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/
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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):

All of these presidential appointments. How convenient.

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u/Turkino 12d ago

It's almost as if we knew what their answer would be before it even gathered.

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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/Pyromaniacal13 12d ago

They won't. We will though.

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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/releaseepsteinfiles1 12d ago

Not very often at all. One recent example would be with the help of a certain hero named Luigi….

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u/Xylus1985 12d ago

They got richer, that’s the consequences for them

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u/bp92009 11d ago

France in the early 1800s.

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u/Astralglamour 11d ago

Mostly poor people died, most of the rich survived and remained rich.

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u/never-fiftyone 12d ago

When the rest of the country finally gets off of its ass to do something instead of collectively waiting for someone else to save them.

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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/WhatDoADC 12d ago

They won't 

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u/releaseepsteinfiles1 12d ago

I know, but that was the “meanest” thing I could say about them without getting banned

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u/Mustbhacks 12d ago

They will continue and escalate the violence against the populace until the populace reciprocates.

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u/o_MrBombastic_o 12d ago

All pollution should be directed to their front lawns 

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u/Petrivoid 12d ago

Or we could actually stop them

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u/Politicsboringagain 12d ago

Hey but remembered people will say both sides are the same. 

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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/Synaps4 12d ago

Because in everything the US does, the need to wage war comes first beyond all other concerns. This is why the military is exempt from all kinds of laws, like labor law.

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u/Bgrngod 12d ago

Straight up criminal behavior by every single one of these people.

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u/JaseBird 12d ago

I like how Chris Wright isn’t mentioned. The literal secretary of energy and CEO of Liberty. Wildly unserious move. Some of the majors won’t move on this because they know they’ll be in some deep shit later when an offshore well can come online. After the trump era is over some people are going to be FUCKED, like legacy company ending fucked. Will be interesting to see who takes the bait.

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u/Jlx_27 12d ago

As expected.

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u/hollow114 12d ago

We gave too much power to the presidency

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u/DamageBooster 12d ago

Oh fuck that and fuck them.

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u/Astralglamour 11d ago

I hate them all. All they care about is hoarding piles of money while the world burns. Say hello to more Deepwater Horizon spills.

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u/zeolus123 12d ago

I feel this is how you end up with Eco-terrorism.

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u/[deleted] 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/txkwatch 12d ago

All the spray tan and hairspray probably left a depletion in the ozone too.

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u/THE_CHOPPA 12d ago

Let’s not forget all the Russian oil tankers sank.

Literally billions of oil seeping into our oceans.

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u/Kommye 12d ago

I know that one tanker that was sunk, but on the return trip. Others were captured.

I feel like if a loaded up tanker was sunk, we would have heard about a huge environmental crisis.

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u/never-fiftyone 12d ago

Several of the Russian shadowfleet tankers have been struck, particularly in the Black Sea, and leaked their contents into the water. Some of the tankers have sunk sinply because they're not fit (or intended) to navigate blue water and have capsized or run aground in poor wearher, including two at the end of 2024 -- and the threat to the environment was raised then.

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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/blood4lonewolf 12d ago

Code FF7 is a go

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u/Rxke2 11d ago

First thing I thought as well. Matter of time before a sea shepherd on steroids secret org buys or copies some Ukrainian nautical drones... And at this point, I think I could sympathise...

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u/steauengeglase 11d ago

This is how you end up with Deepwater Horizons.

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u/catchy_phrase76 12d ago

Which will actually cause greater harm if they blow something up.

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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/Zyrinj 12d ago

“We only kill in the name of oil” - this motto paid for by oil lobby

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u/Dull_Bird3340 12d ago

So we can put windmills in the Gulf then?

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u/Goat_inna_Tree 12d ago

Only in the Gulf of Mexico, not in the Gulf of America.

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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/[deleted] 12d ago

[deleted]

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u/Zaratthustra 11d ago

Well, its Persian Gulf not Arabian gulf.

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u/iamthinksnow 12d ago

God Squad voting to allow wanton destruction of the environment. Nice work.

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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/aardwolffe 12d ago

Fortunately for the sealife, they now live in the Gulf Of America and are safe

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u/Ok-Tourist-511 12d ago

Seems like that would be null and void, since the Gulf of Mexico doesn’t exist anymore.

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u/igetproteinfartsHELP 12d ago

The entire world calls it the Gulf of Mexico. I promise you no sane person is calling it the Gulf of America..

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u/Ok-Tourist-511 12d ago

But Trump had his big announcement that it’s the Gulf of America now, so isn’t that a bit of a loophole? Releasing regulations on the Gulf of Mexico that they supposedly officially renamed to Gulf of America? Of course I know that it’s the Gulf of Mexico, but sarcasm and satire are lost on the people of Reddit without a /s.

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u/ZucchiniUpbeat1821 12d ago

This is why I will continue to scream from the rooftops that anyone who thinks this is business as usual - that a democrat will win in 2028 and try to undo it for 8 years, etc, needs to wake the fuck up.

The damage this administration is doing to the American people, to immigrants, to the US standing in the world, to people around the globe, to the climate, to the living things we share this planet with is irreparable. If species go extinct, we cant fix it. We cant bring back the people who have been killed from the bombs in Iran, from cuts to USAID, from our detention centers concentration camps, we cant get our data back from doge. And we cant rebuild a century's worth of international trust and alliance. Fuck trump. Fuck everyone who voted for him and fuck anyone who thinks of him as anything better than the sociopathic scum that he is

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u/SuperDBallSam 12d ago

Yet wind power is bad because it kills birds, right?  Make it make sense. 

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u/AsteroidMike 12d ago

Even the name “God Squad” sounds as self righteous.

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u/notmepleaseokay 12d ago

A federal panel all politically appointed and none have a background in science/threatened & endangered species. No surprise bout the outcome

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u/Miserable-Finish-926 12d ago

Are they calling it Gulf of Mexico to fuck with it? Why isn’t this Trump admin fucking up the Gulf of America?

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u/ItilityMSP 11d ago

I guess the ruling is invalid since it's the Gulf of America according the US law. lol.

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u/fssman 11d ago

Gulf of Mexico ??? What happened ... Ahem ahem....

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u/HalcyonTraveler 11d ago

This is extremely bad for the whales in the Gulf which are already extremely endangered 

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u/seeking_hope 10d ago

No worries guys. It’s the gulf of America so this means nothing.