The Endangered Species Committee has voted to lift protections for endangered species in the Gulf of America in a bid to facilitate greater offshore oil and gas drilling.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum led a meeting Tuesday in which the committee voted unanimously to exempt all oil and gas drilling activities in what was previously known as the Gulf of Mexico from Endangered Species Act requirements. The committee, also known as the “God Squad,” has the authority to lift rules meant to prevent animals or plants from going extinct.
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The committee has five other members: the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Army, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The meeting marks the first time the committee has convened in more than 30 years.
The meeting was prompted by a request from the Pentagon.
A court filing released last week revealed that Secretary Pete Hegseth notified Interior Secretary Doug Burgum that the agency “found reasons of national security” to exempt all oil and gas drilling activities in the region.
Hegseth, who was at the meeting, said that ongoing Endangered Species Act litigation threatens to halt oil and gas production in the Gulf. He added that there are “serious consequences” if the U.S. is unable to get oil from the region and produce energy needed for the country. The secretary cited the Iran war, which has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, raising global energy costs.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who voted to overturn the protections, cited ongoing lawsuits, stating they threaten energy development and supply.
“NGOs are leveraging existing litigation and actively threatening new lawsuits to block planned development, forcing industry participants to pursue costly, multi-million dollar projects to explore alternative ways to insulate their operations from litigation risk,” Zeldin said.
“In my judgment, it is critical to our national security to remove that threat without delay for these national security purposes,” he added.
The Trump administration has sought to boost the oil and gas industry by offering more lease sales for drilling and regulatory rollbacks.
The move is sure to spur backlash from environmental and conservation groups, which have said that protections are necessary for at-risk species in the region, including sea turtles and Rice’s whales.
The Center for Biological Diversity estimates that only 51 Rice’s whales live in the region. The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Department of the Interior to stop the move, claiming the committee was limiting public input. The meeting was streamed on YouTube.
Earthjustice has also warned that overturning the protections could endanger more fish, rays, corals, and birds in the region.
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“The Trump administration is exploiting its self-made gas crisis to get rid of protections for endangered whales and other imperiled species in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Steve Mashuda, Earthjustice managing attorney for oceans.
“Secretary Hegseth and his Extinction Committee claim this will eventually cut costs for cash-strapped Americans, but Gulf communities know what unrestrained drilling will really bring: devastating oil spills and the destruction of ecosystems and coastal economies. Earthjustice and our partners will go to court to stop this illegal order,” he added.
