For only the third time in the United States’ history, the Endangered Species Committee—nicknamed the “God Squad”—took action to exempt oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This seven-member committee of Cabinet-level appointees effectively decided to allow the extinction of an endangered species.
The God Squad, dubbed as such because of its power to determine if a species goes extinct or not, had not previously met for more than three decades. Yet it was called to order by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to request a sweeping exemption for all Gulf oil and gas activities from ESA requirements. Despite U.S. oil production already reaching historic highs, Hegseth claimed the exemption was “a critical matter of national security” and argued that when oil and gas “development in the Gulf is chilled, we are prevented from producing the energy we need as a country.” The committee justified the decision with half-truths and doublethink, but the reality is that this action may have devastating consequences for the roughly 50 remaining Rice’s whales on the planet, as well as endangered sea turtles, whooping cranes, and many other Gulf-based species.
The God Squad is using the self-inflicted Trump energy crisis to justify expanded Gulf drilling
Without mentioning that hostilities were initiated by Israel and the Trump administration, Secretary Hegseth claimed that “recent hostile action” by the Iranian government has made expanded oil and gas drilling a national security imperative. He further argued that production in the Gulf of Mexico “provides a vital buffer, insulating our economy and military from foreign instability.” However, this claim of a national security imperative is baseless, relying on a series of mistruths.
Hegseth’s justification is especially specious considering the Trump administration started the war with Iran and has been simultaneously causing global instability through tariffs, illegal wars, and moves that have undercut NATO. Hegseth suggested this action would “power our military and protect our nation,” but the U.S. Department of the Interior reports that offshore oil production is currently already at an all-time high, contradicting the narrative of an energy emergency or critical need for more oil and gas.
Gas prices hit $4 in March due to Trump’s war of choice in Iran, not whales in the Gulf of Mexico.
This energy crisis is entirely self-inflicted by the Trump administration. The argument that oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico provides a vital buffer to insulate the U.S. economy and military from foreign instability is not supported by facts. Gas prices hit $4 in March due to President Donald Trump’s war of choice in Iran, not whales in the Gulf of Mexico. The administration’s claim that removing endangered species protections in the Gulf will lower costs for Americans is dubious at best; increasing oil production will not prevent the United States from experiencing price increases, but it will further tie the country to vulnerabilities from international conflict and the global oil market.
Any existing economic stagnation is a direct result of the administration’s own policies, including the war with Iran and tariffs. Furthermore, the administration’s failure to explore all energy production, including its attempts to actively suppress wind and solar—which are more reliable during times of global instability and war—demonstrates that it isn’t making an honest attempt to solve the United States’ energy crisis. Moreover, this reveals the falsehood of the administration’s claim that it is pursuing Gulf oil and gas for national security purposes. The diversification of U.S. energy supplies would almost certainly do more to insulate the American consumer from fluctuations in the price of oil—and our national security—than any conceivable increase in fossil fuel production.
A deadly double standard
At the same time the Trump administration is condemning whales in the Gulf to extinction, it is also seeking to shut down offshore wind, often using rhetoric about whales that’s reminiscent of renewable energy misinformation campaigns funded by the fossil fuel industry. Despite the administration’s claims, the seismic equipment used by oil and gas is much louder and travels much farther than that used for offshore wind. Moreover, vessel strikes and oil spills associated with oil and gas are a greater threat to whales than offshore wind.
This double standard by the God Squad is likely to lead to the extinction of the Gulf’s only endemic whale species: the critically endangered Rice’s whale, which lost one-fifth of its global population after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Even 15 years later, researchers continue to see individual whales in poor body condition, and only a few calves have been spotted. Activists who claim that offshore wind development harms whales have been surprisingly quiet when it comes to the oil and gas industry.
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Conclusion
Key members of the administration are invoking a flawed argument to claim that reckless domestic oil production is a national security imperative, all despite the fact that the United States is currently seeing record energy production. The excuses given for these exemptions—including that litigation to strengthen ESA protections for the Rice’s whale in the Gulf threatens national security—are flimsy at best.
The Endangered Species Act is a proven success, having brought back species such as the green sea turtle, humpback whale, and bald eagle from the brink of extinction. To exempt all Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activities from these vital rules is an outrageous move that risks undermining decades of conservation efforts—and could result in the irrevocable extinction of an entire species.
The authors would like to thank Cody Hankerson, Andrew Miller, Courtney Federico, Jenny Rowland-Shea, Trevor Higgins, and Steve Bonitatibus for their contributions to this article.