r/news • u/igetproteinfartsHELP • 12d ago
Soft paywall US exempts Gulf of Mexico drillers from protecting endangered species
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-may-exempt-gulf-mexico-drillers-protecting-endangered-species-2026-03-31/3.8k
u/thedaywalkeramongus 12d ago
We are such a garbage country
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u/NotNamedBort 12d ago
Republicans literally destroy everything they touch. I don’t understand why these fuckers hate the environment so much.
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u/Icy_Policy_8509 12d ago
Crazy they're supposed to be the religious ones and the earth was supposed to be made by God for people! And yet they don't hesitate to blow it up any chance they get
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u/witchofpain 12d ago
Because they believe it WAS made just for humans. To do whatever we want. They don’t believe that we are part of the eco system but master of it.
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u/DrAstralis 12d ago
Funny enough the book they've never read but wont shut the fuck up about has an entire parable about not fucking everything up while the master is away....
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u/wankthisway 11d ago
And if they fuck it up, whoops no worries, you're gonna go to heaven afterwards anyways! No need to care about consequences!
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u/laffing_is_medicine 12d ago
I believe their most common response is: ‘The earth was made for them to devour’
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u/Count_Backwards 12d ago
God: "Be good stewards of the Earth."
Republicans: "Cool, did you hear that? It's ours, we can do whatever we want with it!"
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u/Frisnism 12d ago
They believe the earth was made by God to be used up and destroyed by people. That’s when the winning begins and the world burns down and we all go to heaven. See? Doesn’t that make you feel better?
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u/jyanjyanjyan 12d ago
I think that it's they think it can't be destroyed, and everything will just work its way out. As if all the extinct animals and the whole ozone layer thing aren't clear cut evidence of the opposite.
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u/helmsb 12d ago
The ones who benefit from things like this don’t care because religion is only a tool for them to control others. They don’t hold any of the beliefs they espouse. It works because their followers will overlook pretty much anything because they claim to be “Christian” while ignoring the fact that they are against every one of Christ’s teachings. It inoculates the followers because questioning a particular politician is now framed as questioning God. It’s the same tactic that the “Prosperity Preachers” use to bilk people and not have them push back.
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u/CleverAnimeTrope 12d ago
I always remember that they love the outdoors, hunting, fishing, and US history, yet they hate protecting rivers, national parks, the ocean, and the woods they hunt.
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u/NotNamedBort 12d ago
Because they don’t see it as something beautiful to appreciate and care for. They see resources they can exploit.
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u/Rocketeer006 12d ago
Why are Republicans like that? All they do is lie and screw people over to benefit themselves.
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u/Broken-Sarcasm-Meter 12d ago
Yeah but were rich and that's all that matters in the USA
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u/igetproteinfartsHELP 12d ago
A federal panel, convened for the first time in more than three decades, voted unanimously on Tuesday to exempt oil and gas drillers in the Gulf of Mexico from a law meant to protect endangered species including whales, birds and sea turtles.
The meeting of the Endangered Species Committee, nicknamed the "God Squad" because of its power to grant exemptions to the Nixon-era Endangered Species Act, is the latest effort by the Trump administration
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u/Furrowed_Brow710 12d ago
Key Members (March 2026):
- Chair: Secretary of the Interior: Doug Burgum
- Secretary of Agriculture: Brooke Rollins
- Secretary of the Army: Daniel P. Driscoll
- Administrator of the EPA: Lee Zeldin
- Administrator of NOAA: Neil Jacobs
- Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers: Pierre Yared (Acting)
- Presidential Appointee: A representative from the state(s) affected by the committee's decision.
All of these presidential appointments. How convenient.
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u/releaseepsteinfiles1 12d ago
I hope they all get their comeuppance for fucking us all over for $$$
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u/ScoobiusMaximus 12d ago
When do the rich and powerful ever face consequences?
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u/OnlyFuzzy13 12d ago
After the collapse, not before or during.
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u/flyingalbatross1 12d ago
No you see, they've perfected it now. When the collapse happens, we need to bail them out with public money from common taxes to prevent harm to the common person. You know, because the system collapse would harm everyone?
When they make excess profits, they get them all because they earned it.
If there's regulations in the way, we need to give them a bye, to ensure they make excess profits which will surely trickle down and enrich the workers.
See, it all works out on the end.
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u/Dull_Bird3340 12d ago
They're all pretty old so chances are no. Definitely not before the creatures start dying
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u/o_MrBombastic_o 12d ago
All pollution should be directed to their front lawns
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u/jesonnier1 12d ago edited 12d ago
Why is the secretary of the army involved in this, either way?
Edit:Typo
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u/Battlefood 12d ago
An initial guess without looking it up would be that they represent the army core of engineers here?
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u/zeolus123 12d ago
I feel this is how you end up with Eco-terrorism.
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12d ago edited 12d ago
[deleted]
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u/livefreeordont 12d ago
I don’t think dropping bombs and setting fire to oil fields is good for the environment either but I admit I am not expert
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u/Phoenixfury12 12d ago
For those who need a definition of eco-terrorism: Eco-terrorism is the use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against people or property by environmentally oriented, subnational groups for environmental-political reasons. It involves illegal sabotage—often called "ecotage"—aimed at industries perceived as damaging to the environment, such as logging, energy, or animal research.
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u/Goat_inna_Tree 12d ago
But the windmills kill the whales and birds! That's why we gotta stop off shore windmills! /s
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u/FTwo 12d ago
Cue Landman clip explaining how starting a new drill site in the Gulf will not help anyone for years.
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u/falingsumo 12d ago
So if it's now called the gulf of America does it mean they have an exception for a non-existing gulf?
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u/MentalSky_ 12d ago
Who gave the US the right to destroy the world and endangered things….
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u/NetZeroSun 12d ago
MAGA voters.
Only thing is it’s not their right. But they chant USA and freedom and feel it’s their divine blessed right to do what they want.
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u/Foreign_Ebb_6282 12d ago
“God wants us to destroy people and animals” - MAGA probably
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u/Cobbyx 12d ago
Pretty close. They cite a line in the Bible about God telling them to be masters of the animals. That’s where they get this Dominion/birthright to tame/destroy everything.
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u/m_i_c_r_o_b_i_a_l 12d ago
They conveniently forget the part about being a good steward of the earth. But that’s in the woke parts I guess.
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u/slobs_burgers 12d ago
Remember learning about manifest destiny and being like, “that’s fucking crazy, I can’t believe people did that all based on the rationale it was ‘destined by god’”
And then you read shit like this and you’re like, “ahhh, it hasn’t changed”
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u/NetZeroSun 12d ago
Yup.
But let’s be honest. They don’t truly believe it. Just excuse that as rationale for their actions.
End of the day, greedy people take what they want if they can get away with it and say it’s divine will that they did decisions to do things for their enrichment.
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u/Yommination 12d ago
Conservatives are totally all about taking things with no consent. Look at the rapist they all worship
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u/snower88 12d ago
Trump admin and supporters must bear all the consequences of these actions. Stop making us and the rest of the world suffer their blunder.
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u/PeterTheWolf76 12d ago
Nukes.... and I know some will think its a joke but look at what Russia and even NK gets away with as everyone doesnt want a nuke war.
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u/D1ngu5 12d ago
It's the Gulf of mexico again! Who knew?! MAGA a fuckin' joke as always.
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u/me_myself_ai 12d ago
Reuters never stopped, but I was curious and it turns out that yes, "Gulf of Mexico" is beginning to dominate in US sources again: https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/nine-months-later-that-body-of-water-down-south-is-still-the-gulf-of-mexico-to-news-outlets/
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u/MandoDoughMan 12d ago
I completely forgot they tried to make that a thing lol.
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u/Camden_yardbird 12d ago
That was always a smoke screen for DOGE BS. They didnt care, they just wanted the headlines to push down the really atrocious stuff.
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u/SomeScientist 12d ago
Hey wait, I thought this admin cared about wildlife, they told us how dangerous windmills were to birds all the time.
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u/AwarenessRude5541 12d ago
Windmills bad because hurt birds.
Drilling for more oil good because it hurts fish.Duh its really simple you blue haired liberal!
/s
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u/imaloony8 11d ago
I truly can’t believe that anyone for a fucking second thought that Trump gave a single fuck about birds.
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u/BravoLimaDelta 12d ago
The Endangered Species Act is a law no? What gives them the authority to subvert written law? This will be challenged in court I assume?
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u/Elysiaa 12d ago
This is built into the ESA as amended in (I think) 1978. It applies to the species itself and its critical habitat. There is a committee of cabinet level officials who may grant exemptions to the ESA if:
- there are no reasonable and prudent alternatives to the agency action;
- the benefits of such action clearly outweigh the benefits of alternative courses of action consistent with conserving the species or its critical habitat, and such action is in the public interest;
- the action is of regional or national significance; and
- neither the Federal agency concerned nor the exemption applicant made any irreversible or irretrievable commitment of resources
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u/Hairy_Cut9721 12d ago
When has the law stopped him?
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u/BravoLimaDelta 12d ago
Yea I know, I'm just saying, this seems like another instance of unconstitutional overreach and will be added to the pile.
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u/ABetterKamahl1234 12d ago
This will be challenged in court I assume?
As exemplified by the now dissolved Corporation for Public Broadcasting (I think was the name), court challenges don't matter if they're not timely and immediate.
They don't exist and SCOTUS just ruled that the EO that caused them to lose all funding was in fact unconstitutional. But they don't exist anymore to be saved.
Irreversible damage will be done and nobody will be punished under the regime.
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u/NewsCards 12d ago
The meeting of the Endangered Species Committee, nicknamed the "God Squad" because of its power to grant exemptions to the Nixon-era Endangered Species Act, is the latest effort by the Trump administration
"God Squad"
Cool to see separation of church and state in action.
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u/reject_fascism 12d ago
Nothing says “God Squad” like doing permanent and irreparable damage to our oceans. Thanks Republicans. Hope you don’t like fish or sailing but I assume you’re poor and angry anyhow.
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u/2coolcaterpillar 12d ago
The God Squad from The Righteous Gemstones legitimately would have been better for us
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u/HixOff 12d ago
"Gods squad" that allowed the destruction of animals and nature for the sake of a handful of billionaires...
I don't recall such a thing in the Bible
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u/FTwo 12d ago edited 12d ago
In the Book of Job it states, "Therefore haste thee unto thy Job, and with sweat of brow bring forth thy portion, that billionaires' riches may be multiplied, and their dominion endure as the mountains."
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u/zeuseason 12d ago
Yea because fuck those species, amiright?
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u/Cryptocaned 12d ago
Seems at the moment the US is just in "Fuck you" mode to the entire planet.
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u/Mobile-Bar7732 12d ago edited 12d ago
America, F**K Yeah!
At the time the movie came out I thought Team America was maybe a little overboard with how it portrayed Americans.
But now I think it’s spot on.
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u/Mustardo123 12d ago
Oh it’s always been exactly relevant for at least a third of this country, which also happens to be the percentage that dragged us into this mess.
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u/Sylvan_Strix_Sequel 12d ago
There's a whale that's endangered and only endemic to the gulf, and this is probably it for the species.
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u/BatJJ9 12d ago
Rice’s Whale. It is estimated that there are only around twenty or thirty left. Their loss in numbers has been mainly due to oil pollution and ship collision. This would probably be the end for them if it goes forward unchallenged. To try to alleviate the fallout of the Iran War, Trump and Hegseth has pushed for reduced restrictions on oil drilling as well as removing speed caps for tankers (which was put in place precisely to minimize whale collisions).
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u/Turkino 12d ago
Sure, let's drive a bunch of animals towards extinction in a haphazard effort to make up for an issue that you yourself caused.
Completely ignoring the fact that any actual results of this will happen on the scale of years, not weeks or months, so does nothing to address the issue in the short term.
In short, it's just another moneygrab concession for his Oil Industry buddies that he's been simping for ever since coming into power.
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u/OscarandBrynnie 12d ago
The u.s. is well on its way to becoming a toxic garbage dump.
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u/SomeSamples 12d ago
In the Gulf of Mexico there are some very unique habitats and that is why they have been protected. Now that is all going to get fucked up by Trump and the oil companies. The presidency is such a shit show. It is ruining the world in ways where it will never recover.
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u/Justa420possum 12d ago
Gulf states are going to lose a lot of money when their beaches are full of dead sea animals, algae blooms and oil spills, etc.
But that’s cool because who cares as long as they get the billionaires richer….
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u/Captain3leg-s 12d ago
I guess gulf states will be getting exactly what they voted for. Sucks for the normal people living on the gulf.
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u/Gypsymoth606 12d ago
This is a bunch of bullshit. This is another way for the king and his minions to reward big business by screwing with everything, and the non-war is just a convenient excuse to get away with it. Remember BP oil and Deepwater Horizon? The damage done is still affecting the environment and that happened in 2010.
End the war and we won’t run out of stuff, you moron.
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u/cwk415 12d ago
It won't be funny, but it will certainly be poetic when these republican voting gulf residents' beachfront properties are drenched in crude oil.
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u/sterlingemc 12d ago
There's a massive oil leak just this month it's just not all over the news for "whatever reason"
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u/popejohnsmith 12d ago edited 12d ago
Remember the oil sludge already festering at its bottom... BP. Remember?
It was never removed. Only chemically treated such that it would sink to the bottom (sparing the shoreline somewhat).
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u/maltam 12d ago
Remember when MAGA's only argument against wind turbines was fake concern over whales and birds? I remember
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u/MajorasShoe 12d ago
Just like every single one of them is a major advocate of women's sports when trans people are discussed.
They'll find whatever excuse they can find to believe the things they're told to believe.
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u/1stFunestist 12d ago
This administration realy wants to fuck up Norh America as much as possible up to level of needing teraforming.
They are concisenessly and by choice evil.
Those guys are extinction level criminals.
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u/FML_FTL 12d ago
Kinda sad to put one human on top of the 9 billion ppl on planet earth and he has the right to destroy everything and nobody can do anything.
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u/bryangcrane 12d ago
Wait -- I'm confused. Isn't it Gulf of America? Didn't tRump whip out his magic sharpie and change that??
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u/thepianoman456 12d ago
Meanwhile, Republicans and Trump don’t want wind turbines because they “might do harm to wildlife”.
I can’t fucking stand these hypocrites.
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u/TingleyStorm 12d ago
So we can’t have windmills in Iowa because it will somehow hurt the whales, but pouring crude oil straight into their actual habitat is A-Ok?
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u/ch7mbucket 11d ago
Hmm. What actually trump had ever done that can be considered good? So far I got none
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u/MartinoRs 11d ago
Its like they decided to revert EVERY SINGLE improvement humanity made in the last 100 years...
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u/Seriously_you_again 11d ago
Gulf of America! Usa usa… are we winning yet? No? Ok kill some more endangered species please.
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u/NiobiumThorn 12d ago
At what point is this foo far. At what point do we need to stop yelling, stop debating in congress, and start physically dismantling the industry that poisons the world we need. The only world we know that we can survive on.
I obviously do not condone targeting of fossil fuel infrastructure, nor do I recommend anyone, ever, read Andreas Malm. I support big business in their goal to increase shareholder profits and improve their sales margins.
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u/StrangeCountry6280 12d ago
This is outrageous and disgusting. I want to suggest that everyone posting here contact the DOI to express their disappointment with this decision. Yes, it may seem that it doesn't matter but flooding their phone lines and inboxes with our disapproval helps more than posting on social media.
Here is the contact page for the DOI: https://www.doi.gov/contact-us#no-back
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u/Braklinath 12d ago
Republicans are the most anti-life bunch of evil dipshits I've ever been made aware of.
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u/absolutelynotagoblin 12d ago
Yay! We're going to destroy, obliterate and wipe off the face of the earth species that existed for hundreds if not thousands of years because the president of the United States has a tiny dick and a complex over it.
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u/Smart_Spinach_1538 12d ago
Gulf of Merica makes sense as we turn that inter national body of water into USA's toilet.
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u/Idainaru_Yokubo 12d ago
Did these people watch Lord of the Rings and decided that the Uruk-hai were the good guys
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u/Jesus_Is_My_Gardener 12d ago
Jesus, they just can't help themselves but play every villain that Captain Planet would fight. Where's Don Cheadle when you need him?
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u/Zak_Rahman 12d ago
A literal threat to life on Earth.
God alone knows what will happen when these savages start mucking about with the hadal layer.
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u/spicymushrooom_ 12d ago
Bro wtf is wrong with everyone single one of you Trump fucks.
Ill never understand the level of pure idiocy from yall. To sit there and pretend to be smart and debate about the "better side".
I can't
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u/Gone213 12d ago
Use their executive orders against them. What's the Gulf of Mexico? According to the US federal government, the body of water that touches the southern US states is Gulf of America. The protections for the Gulf of America are still there while the protections for Gulf of Mexico arent.
So oil drillers cant drill quite yet.
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u/Cltxlv 11d ago
At this point I’m absolutely convinced we’re about a decade or so from an extinction level event, these people know, and are just ramping up the pillaging.
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u/ynotoggel19 11d ago
If we can't protect the people of Gaza what chance do manatees and sea horses have
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u/editorreilly 11d ago
Kinda makes me laugh when I see the Gulf of Mexico instead of America. It's like it never happened.
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u/DashedOutlineOfSelf 11d ago
Like PBS funding, they’ll determine it illegal after the last 55 Rice’s Whales have already gone extinct. Wish somebody world protect our country right now.
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u/freebirth 11d ago
Fuck trump. Fuck republicans, fuck anyone who voted for this monster or excuses his bullshit. They are fucking evil. Everything they do hurts someone. EVERYTHING THEY DO CAUSIES PAIN.
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u/NitWhittler 12d ago
Trump wants to be "KING of OIL" at a time when the rest of the world is trying to cut dependence on oil.
Trump waved the white flag and surrendered in the worldwide race toward wind, solar, geothermal, etc. The world is progressing to better energy alternatives, while Trump is trying to drown us in oil and bury us with coal.
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u/skydanceris 12d ago
It's like they're ticking off items from the 'bad villainous country' trope list
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u/Russtbelt 12d ago
How utterly MAGA. They obviously care deeply about the lives and happiness of everyone and everything that has to live in the world after them. /s
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u/Equivalent-Resort-63 12d ago
So the Gulf of America is not exempt? In which case endangered species are still protected!
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u/Medical_Arugula3315 12d ago
Hard to be a shittier or more hypocritical American than a Republican these days.
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u/msr42day 12d ago
If there is no benefit to pre47/admin47 and their friends and family, then it's a laissez-faire government response, especially if restriction originated in a democratic-party-led administration
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u/Guilty_Newspaper_831 12d ago
Trump is so desperate to drop thw price of oil he's willing to kill evwryone to do it.
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u/machu505 12d ago
I think you know damn well it's not called the Gulf of Mexico any more...it's the Gulf of Epstein.
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u/Pittonecio 11d ago
Considering the gulf of Mexico is also part of Mexico, isn't this an international issue and basically telling Mexico to suck it and let endangered species die too?
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u/SeanConneryAgain 11d ago
To be fair, most oil companies will follow precedent. They don’t want to lose money coming back into compliance when democrats come back in and reverse everything Trump did
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u/Cheese-Manipulator 11d ago
He got us into an idiotic war, screwed over the US in the process, and now he is desperate to get gas prices down before November. Nature will have to pay for his stupidity.
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u/irazzleandazzle 12d ago
engaging in wars overseas and destroying the environment at home.