On behalf of the National Wildlife Federation, National Parks Conservation Association, Florida Wildlife Federation, Louisiana Wildlife Federation, and Texas Conservation Alliance, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration’s attempt to bypass compliance with the Endangered Species Act for oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico.

The broad exemption allows the oil and gas industry to operate without any consideration for impacts to listed species, including the highly endangered Rice’s whale and numerous species of listed sea turtles. SELC filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The Endangered Species Committee, also known as the God Squad or Extinction Committee, was created in 1978 to allow project proponents to apply for an exemption from the ESA under narrow circumstances. The committee has only convened three previous times in the act’s history.

The groups behind the lawsuit say that the committee met and voted on March 31 without the legally required notice, review, or application process. The committee claimed it was necessary because of a “national security emergency.”

“In a 15-minute meeting without appropriate public input, the administration exempted oil and gas drilling and related activities in the Gulf from Endangered Species Act compliance, risking extinction for the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles, Rice’s whales and other threatened and endangered species that call the waters in and near Gulf national parks home,” said Bart Melton, wildlife program director for National Parks Conservation Association. “National Parks Conservation Association is fighting this decision, which could lead to the extinction of wildlife populations in the name of offshore drilling today, and other disastrous developments near parks in the future.”

The Gulf is home to 10 national park sites and an abundance of wildlife, including several species of sea turtles, migratory birds, Gulf sturgeon, and Rice’s whale that are all protected by the ESA. Oil and gas drilling activities including noise, vessel strikes, and spills are some of the biggest threats to Gulf wildlife but can be managed and mitigated through the ESA’s review process. Importantly, the consideration of impacts to listed species has never halted drilling or production in the Gulf, with oil production from the region at record highs.

“For decades, oil drilling has proceeded in the Gulf in concert, not in conflict with, the Endangered Species Act. The Act has resulted in meaningful mitigation which has allowed exploration and drilling to continue. Bypassing the ESA in the Gulf is completely unnecessary,” said Catherine Wannamaker, a senior attorney in SELC’s Charleston office. “If this administration gets a pass in the Gulf, there’s no telling what industries they will exempt next and the impact that this could have on species around the country.”

A 2024 poll from the Business and Economics Polling Initiative at Florida Atlantic University and NPCA found that 85 percent of Floridians agree that national parks should be protected from extractive industries like oil drilling and mining.

“We understand the role oil and gas development plays in meeting our energy needs, but it must be approached with the long-standing safeguards that protect our most vulnerable species and habitats,” said Grahame Jones, executive director of the Texas Conservation Alliance. “Removing those protections in the Gulf puts fragile ecosystems at risk, sets a dangerous precedent, and reflects a lack of foresight about what we leave behind for future generations.”