Help Save the Endangered Species Act
Urgent Action Needed - Tell Congress: Don't Let Extinction Be an Option
For the first time in 30 years, the administration is planning to convene the Endangered Species Committee, a federal panel of government officials. Why are they meeting? To grant an exception from the Endangered Species Act and allow oil and gas operations to move forward in the Gulf of Mexico.
If this moves forward, endangered marine mammals and other rare wildlife that call the Gulf home will be at grave risk and pushed closer toward extinction.
This moment is exactly why the Endangered Species Act exists: to ensure that decisions like these are guided by science and a commitment to protecting not only endangered species but also the ecosystems they depend on.
“The Endangered Species Act exists precisely for moments like this—to ensure that economic activity does not come at the cost of extinction,” says Dr. Jeff Boehm, Chief External Relations Officer at The Marine Mammal Center. “Bypassing those safeguards undermines both science and the law. Exempting Gulf oil and gas operations from environmental review sets a dangerous precedent in which protection for endangered species becomes optional rather than essential. Science should guide these decisions, not exemptions.”
From a broader perspective, the stakes are much higher.
“From a One Health perspective, the fate of individual species is inseparable from the health of our ocean and our communities,” Boehm adds. “When we weaken protections for marine life, we also undermine the resilience of ecosystems that support human health, food security and coastal economies. Decisions that risk extinction are not just wildlife issues—they are public health issues.”
The Endangered Species Committee has only been convened a handful of times in history. Using it now to sidestep science and weaken protections for endangered marine life would set a dangerous and lasting precedent.
We cannot allow extinction to become an option.
Take action now:
Tell your member of Congress to reject any attempt to weaken Endangered Species Act protections.
Here is a sample message you can share:
“I urge you to uphold the Endangered Species Act and reject any exemption, including those issued by the Endangered Species Committee, that would allow oil and gas operations to harm endangered species. Extinction must never be treated as an acceptable outcome. Please ensure science, not politics, guides these decisions. Thank you.”
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