Oceana announced this week it has joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration for its decision to unilaterally remove threatened and endangered species protections in the Gulf of Mexico to make way for offshore oil and gas drilling.
In early April, the Endangered Species Committee unilaterally eliminated key Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for marine life in the Gulf of Mexico — including the critically endangered Rice’s whale — to clear the way for offshore oil and gas drilling, a move that drew condemnation from environmental advocates.
The March decision by federal officials puts 20 threatened and endangered Gulf species at risk, including sea turtles, sturgeon, manta rays, sharks, and whales such as the critically endangered Rice’s whale.
The committee, also known within the environmental advocacy community as the “God Squad,” refers to a board of political appointees who can override protections granted by the ESA in favor of economic interests, environmental advocates contend. The committee took this action after a finding from US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that the exemption for oil and gas exploration was needed for reasons of “national security.”
Oceana Vice President Beth Lowell said:
“The Trump administration needs to be held accountable for attempting to undermine protections for endangered wildlife like the critically endangered Rice’s whale that call the Gulf of Mexico home. The Endangered Species Act has a rarely used process for exempting projects from the law, yet the administration did not follow it. Circumventing the public process entirely undermines the integrity of the law and will push already struggling marine wildlife one step closer to extinction.”
