Several environmental groups sued President Donald Trump's administration Thursday — days after it removed protections for endangered species in the Gulf. They fear it would allow oil and gas drilling to decimate threatened marine life.
The Endangered Species Committee met for the first time in 34 years on Monday to make the decision. They're sometimes derided as the "God Squad," because they can decide the fate of some species. The committee quickly removed protections that day.
The lawsuit claims regulators disregarded laws that require a review process. The group's past decisions included months-long public hearings.
Monday's meeting took less than one-half hour.
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Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa vowed to help overturn the ruling.
"My Democratic colleagues and I are ready to fight this in court, in Congress, and with the support of our communities around the Gulf who want a cleaner, more affordable energy and a healthy environment," she said during a news conference.
Environmentalists are particularly concerned for the future of the Rice's whale. There are estimated to be only about 50 left, mostly in the northeastern Gulf.
The Endangered Species Committee was called by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He claimed there was a threat to "national security" because of possible disruptions to oil and gas drilling.
The lawsuit, in part, claims there is no evidence of an irreconcilable conflict between protections and oil and gas activities in the Gulf.
"To the contrary, under current requirements, production has not halted or even slowed. For example, deepwater production in the Gulf has increased over 10% every year, on average, since 1985," the lawsuit states.
"The Defense Secretary’s finding itself admits that the ESA currently “allow[s] Federal agencies to issue permits, approve plans, and take other similar actions necessary for Gulf oil and gas development," the lawsuit continues.
It was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. by Healthy Gulf, Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth and Turtle Island Restoration Network.
"We can have whales and sea turtles and oil drilling in the Gulf, the same way we've had it for decades. It's to take some really minimal protective measures that make it so species like the Rice's whale don't go extinct."Drew Caputo of Earthjustice
Drew Caputo is with Earthjustice, which is litigating the case. He said the goal of the lawsuit is not to stop oil and gas drilling.
"We can have whales and sea turtles and oil drilling in the Gulf, the same way we've had it for decades," he said. "It's to take some really minimal protective measures that make it so species like the Rice's whale don't go extinct."
Castor said we need to reduce our dependence on burning fossil fuels because of their effect on warming the climate.
"And people are not buying this argument anymore that oil and gas drilling is going to lower their bills," she said. "They know a year and a half ago we experienced back-to-back hurricanes in Helene and Milton. They intensified so quickly because the Gulf waters were so hot, due to the burning of fossil fuels, and they're still trying to repair their lives from that."
