The Trump Administration has voted to exempt oil drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico from protections under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a decision that environmental advocates warn could put vulnerable marine life at greater risk of extinction.
One species in particular is the Rice's whale, a critically endangered species found only in the Gulf. The whale was listed engaged under the ESA in 2019. According to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, fewer than 100 Rice's whales remain, with estimates from a 2017-2018 study placing the population closer to 50.
The Center for Biological Diversity has opposed efforts to expand oil drilling in the Gulf.
"The committee's decision profits the fossil fuel industry and sacrifices green sea turtles, manatees, whales and dozens of other creatures in the Gulf of Mexico who are already just barely clinging to existence," said Elise Bennett the Florida and Caribbean Director & Senior Attorney at Center for Biological Diversity. "For the 50 or so Rice's whales left on Earth, whose only home is in the Gulf, allowing the oil and gas industry to operate without ESA safeguards is a matter of existence or extinction."
The center filed an emergency lawsuit March 18 against Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, trying to prevent the Endangered Species Committee on March 31. In a press release, the center said the Endangered Species Committee failed to meet legal requirements necessary to hold the meeting.
"This decision is not only horrifyingly unethical, it's also contrary to the will of everyday Americans," Bennett said. "The center will be amending its existing lawsuit today to challenge the purported national security determination and the unlawful exemption granted by the committee."
Other environmental groups filed similar lawsuits ahead of the meeting, raising concerns about the legality of the committee's actions and the environmental risks tied to expanded drilling.
In a March 31 press release, the center said it will use its existing lawsuit to also challenge Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s over unlawful exemption granted by the committee.
"With today’s vote, the Trump extinction committee has overruled a National Marine Fisheries Service requirement for oil and gas industry ships to operate at safe speeds in the eastern Gulf and monitor the location of whales to avoid strikes and deaths. The committee also has effectively eliminated all other conservation and safety measures designed to protect marine wildlife and species along the Gulf Coast from catastrophic oil spills," said the press release.
The Sierra Club said, in a statement, the decision is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to expand offshore drilling.
The group said the administration has proposed weakening offshore drilling safety regulations and opening additional coastlines to drilling. Sierra Club said during the meeting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said expanding offshore drilling the Gulf would support the administration's war efforts in Iran.
“The Trump administration manufactured yet another crisis, and now, in a reckless abuse of power, a species has been sentenced to extinction while the oil and gas industry secures one more handout. By invoking ‘national security’ to sidestep a bedrock environmental law, the Trump administration is setting a dangerous precedent for politically motivated exemptions that could weaken protections for endangered species nationwide. Sierra Club is looking at all legal options in the face of this egregious decision," said Sierra Club's Executive Director Loren Blackford, in a statement.
Earthjustice said adding more oil operations in the Gulf will not lower gas prices.
“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. 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," said Steve Mashuda, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Oceans Program
The Trump administration has not responded to requests for comment.