biodiversity
Judicial Review of the Hegseth Gambit
Hegseth and the “God Squad” may have just stepped into a morass.
As expected, the Endangered Species Committee issued a blanket exemption, preventing any challenges to oil and gas drilling in the Gulf that threaten endangered species. Hegseth’s request for the exemption is premised on the existing (but possibly insufficient) protections that the government is currently giving endangered species. Thus, it’s not quite a license for Exxon to send out harpoon boats to kill off whales. It does, however, raise the suspicion that the current protections are grossly inadequate and that the government expected to lose in court, before in effect breaking the glass and pulling the red emergency lever.
CONTINUE READINGChallenging Hegseth’s National Security Gambit
Hegseth may not have as much power as he thinks to run roughshod over the Endangered Species Act.
According to a DOJ filing, “[o]n March 13, 2026, the Secretary of War notified the Secretary of the Interior that the Secretary of War found it necessary for reasons of national security to exempt from the ESA’s requirements all Gulf of America oil and gas exploration and development activities.” It’s difficult but not impossible to challenge the government on issues of national security. Hegseth’s demand for an exemption to allow oil companies to destroy endangered species is a bold, aggressive move, much like the decision to go to war against Iran. As with the war itself, however, the legal and political aftermath may prove a lot messier than the Administration is anticipating. Here are some possible arguments that could potentially limit Hegseth’s powers.
CONTINUE READINGThe “God Squad” is Subject to a Lot of Limits. But I’m still worried.
Getting an exemption from the Endangered Species Act is normally difficult. But there’s a scary exception.
The Endangered Species Act Committee has been nicknamed the God Squad, on the theory that it holds the power of life and death over endangered species. It does the have the power to exempt from projects from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), although that’s not quite as ominous as it sounds. It’s understandable that many people freaked out when a Federal Register notice appeared announcing a meeting of the Committee relating to offshore drilling in the Gulf. We don’t have any specifics , What we do know is that the process is complex and cumbersome, and that there are important limits on the Committee’s discretion. There’s still reason to worry, however, because Pete Hegseth actually is the one with godlike powers over endangered species.
CONTINUE READINGThe Trump Administration is Squandering Our Natural Heritage
Proposed Endangered Species Act regulations are designed to stifle protections and provide developers even more power.
The world’s ecosystems have been subject to an increasingly dangerous cocktail of stressors from land and ocean over-development, invasive species, and pollution. But rather than stem the tide of these harms, the Trump administration has resurrected several regulatory changes to the Endangered Species Act designed to stifle species’ protections and provide land developers even more power to …
Continue reading “The Trump Administration is Squandering Our Natural Heritage”
CONTINUE READINGBackfilling the federal ESA
AB 1319 is a good first step to responding to efforts to weaken the federal ESA
I wrote this past spring about a proposal by the Trump Administration to eliminate the definition of harm in the regulations implementing the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), which might eliminate protections from habitat modification for federally listed species. I also noted three different steps California could do to backfill the federal ESA if such …
Continue reading “Backfilling the federal ESA”
CONTINUE READINGThe California ESA and habitat protection
How California can fill in for a reduction in federal protection for endangered speciees
Following up on my prior post about the proposed changes to the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations that protect against habitat modification, what might California do to protect the species within its border? California currently has 140 federally listed animal species, and 182 federally listed plant species, 19% of the 1684 species listed under …
Continue reading “The California ESA and habitat protection”
CONTINUE READINGWhat’s the Harm?
Tentative thoughts on Trump Administration’s proposed repeal of the ESA regulation defining harm
The administration has proposed revoking the definition of harm in the regulations implementing Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Section 9 is the section of the ESA that prohibits taking a member of a listed species. The change is significant because that definition of harm included, in some circumstances, actions that modify the …
Continue reading “What’s the Harm?”
CONTINUE READINGPrecedent, the Trump Administration, and Endangered Species
A new Trump Administration initiative misinterprets the overruling of Chevron
The Trump Administration’s effort to strip away protections under the Endangered Species Act that had previously been upheld by the Supreme Court. The Administration seems to think they’re entitled to ignore that earlier decision because it was decided under the Chevron test and Chevron has since been overruled. They’re wrong. If it wishes to change the existing interpretation, the agency must give a reasoned argument for doing so that discusses the relevant policy issues, including reliance and the impact of its decision on endangered species.
CONTINUE READINGWhat is a species?
Revisiting a key case in the history of the ESA
This article in the NY Times covers a recent scientific article that concludes that the snail darter, a fish species in the Tennessee River basin that was previously listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), is not a species after all. Using a range of genetic analyses, the authors conclude that the snail …
Continue reading “What is a species?”
CONTINUE READINGSix Things to Know about Rights of Nature
More than 500 Rights of Nature laws and policies have been passed globally. Here’s how to make sense of this nascent movement — or movements.
This Fall, I have been co-teaching a course on Rights of Nature with the historian Jill Lepore. This is the first time either of us have taught the subject and it has proven a wonderful opportunity to explore with our students this emerging movement — one that some have praised as “A Legal Revolution That …
Continue reading “Six Things to Know about Rights of Nature”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
