Federal court clears way for Gulf oil, gas development

A Maryland federal court on Thursday dismissed a legal challenge to a 2025 government opinion that further oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico would not wipe out endangered species. The lawsuit was dismissed because the U.S. Endangered Species Committee in March voted unanimously to exempt all such development in the Gulf from the requirements of the Endangered Species Act. Their decision rendered the 2025 assessment, which focused on compliance with the act, void. Thus, the lawsuit’s case against the assessment became moot, the court found.

The Endangered Species Committee, which consists of six federal officials, chose to make an exception to the act for national security reasons, according to the Justice Department. Their decision marked the first time the committee had ever done so. The decision was based on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s opinion that increased oil and gas development was vital to the nation. The committee was required by law to accept his view, according to the Justice Department.

What do we know about the 2025 assessment at the center of the lawsuit? The National Marine Fisheries Service estimated that in the next 45 years, planned oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico would likely harm eight endangered species, including sperm whales, loggerhead sea turtles, and Gulf sturgeon. The development process, along with inevitable small oil spills, would be stressors for marine life in the area, the report said. However, the report recommended strategies to reduce harm and stated that if the strategies were followed, the risk to most endangered species would be low enough not to jeopardize their continued existence.

Several environmental groups sued over the report, claiming that the harms of further development would be greater than U.S. officials acknowledged. Now that the lawsuit is dismissed and the report is void, it’s unclear whether the harm-reduction strategies recommended will be used.

Which federal officials make up the Endangered Species Committee?

• Interior Secretary Doug Burgum

• Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins

• Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll

• Acting Council of Economic Advisors Chairman Pierre Yared

• Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration head Neil Jacobs

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report on a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s antiweaponization fund.