{"id":695297,"date":"2026-03-31T17:28:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T17:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/695297\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T17:28:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T17:28:22","slug":"trump-officials-issue-exemption-for-gulf-drilling-from-endangered-species-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/695297\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump officials issue exemption for Gulf drilling from Endangered Species Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration on Tuesday exempted oil and gas drilling<\/a> in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said environmentalists\u2019 lawsuits against the industry threatened to hobble domestic energy supplies as the U.S. wages war against Iran. <\/p>\n

Critics said the move by the government\u2019s Endangered Species Committee could doom a rare whale species<\/a> and harm other marine life. Nicknamed the \u201cGod Squad\u201d<\/a> by groups who say it can decide a species\u2019 fate, the committee comprises several Trump administration officials and is chaired by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.<\/p>\n

It met Tuesday for the first time in more than three decades amid global oil shocks and soaring energy prices brought on by the Iran war<\/a>. The U.S. pumps more oil than any other nation, but that hasn\u2019t insulated it from spiking prices: The national average for a gallon of gasoline topped $4 Tuesday<\/a> for the first time since 2022.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Doug<\/p>\n

Doug Burgum, Secretary of Interior, delivers speech at the reception of the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum at U.S. Ambassador\u2019s Residence, March 13, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo\/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)<\/p>\n

Doug Burgum, Secretary of Interior, delivers speech at the reception of the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum at U.S. Ambassador\u2019s Residence, March 13, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo\/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)<\/p>\n

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\u201cDisruptions to Gulf oil production doesn\u2019t hurt just us, it benefits our adversaries,\u201d Hegseth told the committee. \u201cWe cannot allow our own rules to weaken our standing and strengthen those who wish to harm us. When development in the Gulf is chilled, we are prevented from producing the energy we need as a country and as a department.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Defense<\/p>\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, March 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon, File)<\/p>\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, March 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon, File)<\/p>\n

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Environmental groups sought unsuccessfully to block<\/a> Tuesday\u2019s meeting and pledged to challenge the exemption. They say the exemption would speed the extinction of the rare Rice\u2019s whale, which is found exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico. Government biologists say only about 50 of the animals remain.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A supply vessel boat sits near an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. April 10, 2011. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert, File)<\/p>\n

A supply vessel boat sits near an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. April 10, 2011. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert, File)<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf Trump is successful here, he could be the first person in history to knowingly extirpate a species from the face of the earth. That\u2019s how precarious the condition of the Rice\u2019s whale is,\u201d said Patrick Parenteau, emeritus professor of law at Vermont Law School.<\/p>\n

Streamlined approvals for drilling<\/p>\n

Republican President Donald Trump has made increased fossil fuel production a central focus of his second term. He wants to open new areas of the Gulf<\/a> off the Florida coast to drilling, and has proposed sweeping rollbacks of environmental regulations disliked by industry.<\/p>\n

Hegseth had notified Burgum on March 13 that an Endangered Species Act exemption for oil and gas drilling in the Gulf was \u201cnecessary for reasons of national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegseth told committee members Tuesday that Iran\u2019s efforts to block shipping<\/a> through the world\u2019s busiest oil route, the Strait of Hormuz, underscored the national security imperative of a robust domestic oil production. He said the energy industry is under threat from pending litigation from environmental groups challenging government approvals for drilling.<\/p>\n

Industry observers said the exemption could have significant implications for energy companies by streamlining approvals of new projects and impeding opponents\u2019 ability to derail drilling plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cSerial litigation from activist groups targeting a lawful, well-regulated industry should not be allowed to indefinitely obstruct projects of clear national importance,\u201d said Erik Milito with the National Ocean Industries Association, which represents offshore developers.<\/p>\n

The Gulf of Mexico is one of the nation\u2019s top oil regions, producing 2 million barrels a day. It accounts for almost 15% of crude pumped annually in the U.S., plus a small share of domestic natural gas production.<\/p>\n

The Gulf also has been the scene of environmental disasters such as BP\u2019s Deepwater Horizon blowout in 2010<\/a> that killed 11 workers and spilled 134 million gallons (500 million liters) of oil. A spill in the Gulf<\/a> earlier this month spread 373 miles (600 kilometers), contaminating at least six species and polluting seven protected natural reserves.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration in mid-March approved BP\u2019s new $5 billion ultra-deepwater drilling project in the Gulf.<\/p>\n

Whales, turtles and sturgeon at risk<\/p>\n

A 2025 National Marine Fisheries Service analysis determined the Gulf oil and gas program was likely to harm several species of whales, sea turtles and Gulf sturgeon that face potential harm from ship strikes, oil spills and other impacts.<\/p>\n

The Gulf exemption is the first time national security has been cited to justify action by the Endangered Species Committee. Conservation groups immediately condemned the action and asserted it was done illegally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Endangered Species Act has not slowed an iota of oil from being extracted from the Gulf,\u201d said Defenders of Wildlife President Andrew Bowman. \u201cI cannot stress enough how unprecedented and unlawful this action is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 1973, the Endangered Species Act<\/a> has made it illegal to harm or kill species on a protected list. The committee was formed in 1978 as a way to exempt projects if no alternative would provide the same economic benefits in a region or if it was in the nation\u2019s best interest.<\/p>\n

Before this week, the panel had convened just three times and issued only two exemptions. The first was in 1979 to allow construction on a dam on the Platte River in Wyoming, home to the whooping crane. It last met in 1992, allowing logging in northern spotted owl habitats in Oregon. That exemption request was later withdrawn.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Clumps<\/p>\n

Clumps of oil residue lie on the shore after fishing outings were suspended because of an oil spill that Mexican authorities said originated from an unidentified vessel and two natural oil seeps along the Gulf coast in Salinas, Mexico, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Felix Marquez)<\/p>\n

Clumps of oil residue lie on the shore after fishing outings were suspended because of an oil spill that Mexican authorities said originated from an unidentified vessel and two natural oil seeps along the Gulf coast in Salinas, Mexico, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Felix Marquez)<\/p>\n

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Its latest meeting follows a federal judge\u2019s ruling on Monday that struck down attempts during Trump\u2019s first term to weaken rules for endangered species.<\/p>\n

The panel\u2019s members include the secretaries of agriculture, interior and the Army, the chairperson of the Council of Economic Advisers, and the administrators of both the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They all voted in favor of Hegseth\u2019s request for an exemption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Trump administration on Tuesday exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":695298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[291058,3425,64,10106,69,98171,9562,10102,97327,6064,723,10104,57,4353,47596,83,6087,361,353,773,15337,50,53197,6986,80,159,61,67,370,132,68,93],"class_list":["post-695297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","category-us","tag-andrew-bowman","tag-animals","tag-business","tag-climate-and-environment","tag-donald-trump","tag-doug-burgum","tag-endangered-species","tag-energy-industry","tag-erik-milito","tag-fl-state-wire","tag-florida","tag-ga-state-wire","tag-general-news","tag-georgia","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-iran","tag-iran-war","tag-la-state-wire","tag-louisiana","tag-mississippi","tag-ms-state-wire","tag-news","tag-oil-and-gas-industry","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-politics","tag-science","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-government","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-washington-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}