Conservation groups including the Center for Biological Diversity are rallying in Washington, DC today outside the US Department of the Interior to oppose the Trump administration’s convening of the Endangered Species Committee.
The committee, which hasn’t met in more than 30 years, is holding a closed-door meeting to consider granting the oil and gas industry a sweeping exemption from the Endangered Species Act for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
The March 16 notice announcing the meeting stated:
“The Committee is meeting regarding an exemption under the Endangered Species Act with respect to oil and gas exploration, development, and production activities in the Gulf of America associated with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Program.”
Stephanie Kurose, deputy director of government affairs at the Center for Biological Diversity, said:
“Trump and his cronies want to sacrifice the Gulf of Mexico and the amazing wildlife who live there just to pad the profits of Big Oil. This sham process threatens whales, sea turtles and the entire Gulf ecosystem. We won’t stand by while they fast-track extinction.”
Environmental advocates are calling on the administration “to halt this illegal end-run around Endangered Species Act protections and reject any exemption that would sacrifice imperiled animals and plants for oil industry interests.”
Critics warn such exemptions would drive the Rice’s whale to extinction. There are just 51 Rice’s whales left on Earth, advocates say, and all of them live in the Gulf. Endangered sea turtles, like the Kemp’s Ridley, depend on Gulf beaches for nesting.
In addition to the Center for Biological Diversity and Virginia Representative Don Beyer, other groups scheduled to attend the rally include the Endangered Species Coalition, Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Oceana, Ocean Defense Initiative, Animal Welfare Institute and XX.
The meeting itself will be streamed live on YouTube.
