Judge Allows Gulf Oil ESA Exemption Committee Meeting

A federal judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration may proceed with a rare meeting of a high-level committee to consider exempting all oil and gas exploration and development in the Gulf of Mexico from protections under the Endangered Species Act, citing national security concerns amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras in Washington, D.C., denied a request from the Center for Biological Diversity for a temporary restraining order to halt the gathering of the Endangered Species Committee, known informally as the God Squad. The committee, composed of six senior federal officials and a state representative, is scheduled to convene Tuesday to review the exemption request. This would be only the fourth time the panel has met since its creation in 1973, and the first invocation of a national security provision in its history.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth initiated the process by notifying Interior Secretary Doug Burgum that national security necessitated waiving Endangered Species Act requirements for federal oversight of Gulf oil and gas activities. The request comes as global energy prices have surged following U.S....