<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/31/gulf-of-mexico-drilling-endangered-species>
"A US government panel on Tuesday exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of
Mexico from the
Endangered Species Act (ESA), a move which critics say could
doom a rare whale species and harm other marine life.
The Endangered Species Committee – which had not convened in more than three
decades – voted to approve the request for the ESA exemption at the request of
the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth has said environmentalists’ lawsuits against the industry threatened to
hobble the nation’s energy supply, while environmentalists fear drilling could
kill off protected species including Rice’s whales, whooping cranes and sea
turtles.
Only about 51 Rice’s whales remain, and they and other wildlife are largely on
the brink of extinction because of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig spill,
which devastated the gulf when it leaked about 210m gallons.
Nicknamed the “God squad” by groups who say it can decide a species’ fate, the
committee includes several Trump administration officials and is chaired by the
interior secretary, Doug Burgum.
Burgum, Hegseth and five other panel members unanimously voted for the
exemption.
Steve Mashuda, attorney for the non-profit environmental law organization
Earthjustice, criticized the move. “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,” he said.
“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.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
