Several senior officials in President Donald Trump’s administration, part of the so-called God Squad, voted on March 31 to repeal long-standing provisions of the Endangered Species Act in the Gulf of Mexico and exempt all oil and gas production from restrictions.
Environmentalists fear the move could be fatal for the critically endangered Rice whale, a species found only in the Gulf and numbering only about 50 individuals.
CNN writes about this.
The “God Squad” is the name given to a group of six high-ranking officials on the Endangered Species Act who are empowered to decide on exceptions to the Endangered Species Act. It gets its informal name from its de facto “godlike” power to decide the fate of species.
Such exceptions to the law are extremely rare. The current decision marks only the fourth time in history that the committee has voted, and the first time that the exception was justified on national security grounds.
Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth requested an exception to the Endangered Species Act for all oil and gas exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico "for national security reasons".
At the hearing, the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Trump administration officials said that lawsuits and environmental restrictions make it difficult to plan and implement drilling projects, and therefore harm US national security.
In recent years, environmental groups have filed lawsuits demanding that ships in the area be slowed down (to avoid collisions with Riceʼs whales) and that they be restricted from using seismic air guns, which interfere with the whalesʼ navigation and communication.
“These legal battles drain critical government resources and make it impossible for energy companies to plan and invest in new projects. When development in the Gulf is slowed, we cannot produce the energy the country needs,” Hegseth said.
As another argument, he mentioned the war with Iran, which led to global energy shocks and rising fuel prices.
The Rice whale is the closest species to extinction in the Gulf of Mexico, but it is also home to other vulnerable species, including sea turtles, manatees, and whooping cranes.
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