U.S. could exempt oil industry from protecting Gulf animals, for 'national security'

Key Points:

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called a rare meeting of the Endangered Species Act Committee, known as the "God Squad," to consider exempting the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas industry from protections for endangered species, citing national security reasons.
• Environmental groups are alarmed by the move, which could jeopardize critically endangered species like the Rice's whale, with only about 51 individuals remaining, as well as other threatened Gulf species such as sperm whales, manatees, and sea turtles.
• The committee meeting is unprecedented in its rapid announcement and lack of public transparency, and it follows previous recommendations from NOAA for oil companies to adopt protective measures, which the exemption could override.
• Conservationists argue that the Endangered Species Act was not designed to allow exemptions when mitigation measures exist, and they highlight the oil industry's lobbying efforts to reduce regulatory restrictions in the Gulf.
• This action is part of a broader pattern under the Trump administration to ease environmental protections and limit the listing of new endangered species, with no new animals added to the federal list since the start of Trump's second term in 2025.