RENO, Nev.— The Center for Biological Diversity sent a notice today of its intent to sue the Trump administration for its impending authorization of a geothermal project that would put Nevada’s rare Dixie Valley toad on a path to extinction.

Today’s action, filed with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, is one of the first challenges to Trump’s inauguration day executive order declaring a fake “energy emergency.”

“Trump’s bogus energy emergency is being used as cover to allow his corporate cronies to drive animals extinct so they can make a buck,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center. “Presidents don’t have unilateral authority to declare an emergency where one doesn’t exist so they can do whatever they want. We’re going to court to stop this gross abuse of power, and to save the Dixie Valley toad from extinction.”

Dixie Valley toads live in a single hot spring-fed wetland in Churchill County, Nevada. After a petition and litigation from the Center, the toads were protected under the Endangered Species Act in 2022.

The toads face the threat of extinction from the proposed Dixie Meadows Geothermal Project, just outside their habitat, which could dry up the springs the animals rely on for survival. Trump’s executive order is being used to justify approval of the controversial project despite warnings from experts, including the government’s own, that the project could drive the toad extinct.

The Dixie Valley toad is a small amphibian with large, prominent eyes and an olive-colored body dotted with black freckles. Its lifecycle depends on sustained discharge of hot water, through which it regulates its temperature through the long, cold Great Basin Desert winters.

An independent panel of hydrogeologists evaluated the geothermal project and its potential harm to the toad as a part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s study that led to the toad’s listing as endangered. The scientists concluded that the project had a high likelihood of altering the spring discharge at Dixie Meadows, that proposed mitigation efforts had a low likelihood of success, and that severe population decline or extinction was likely to result.

The Bureau’s authorization of this project is intended to bypass normal procedures under the Endangered Species Act to prevent harm to listed species, including full consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“We won’t stand by while Trump keeps bulldozing our democracy and environmental protection laws,” said Donnelly. “This fake energy emergency is being used to justify extinction, but in this country laws mean something and presidents can’t act with impunity. Enough is enough. We’ve been fighting for the Dixie Valley toad for a decade and we won’t back down now.”