Biden administration restores protections for migratory birds

March 10th, 2021

Awake Goy

Back in 2017, the Trump administration had altered the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) so companies were no longer penalized for accidentally or incidentally harming or killing these birds, reported The Hill.

The reversal of this much-needed bill “drastically weakened the government’s power to enforce a century-old law that protects most U.S. bird species,” writes AP journalists Matthew Brown and John Flesher.

But Monday, the Biden administration reversed Trump’s rule; a victory for animal rights and environmental activists.

According to Reuters, this move is President Joe Biden’s latest effort to swiftly roll back his predecessor’s four-year legacy of energy and environmental deregulation.

It’s estimated that around 460 million to 1.4 billion birds die every year from human-made causes, including oil pits and glass buildings. Between 2010 and 2018, civil and criminal enforcement cases against companies led to $5.8 million in fines, excluding the BP settlement. However, most of those cases did not lead to criminal prosecutions since many companies were willing to implement bird protections, reports EcoWatch.