U.S. exempts oil industry from protecting Gulf animals, for 'national security'

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/30/nx-s1-5745926/endangered-species-committee-hegseth-security

129•Jimmc414•1h ago

Comments

ZunarJ5•1h ago

"Definitive of what capitalism is, this separation severely limits the scope of the political. Devolving vast aspects of social life to the rule of “the market” (in reality, to large corporations), it declares them off-limits to democratic decision-making, collective action, and public control. Its very structure, therefore, deprives us of the ability to decide collectively exactly what and how much we want to produce, on what energic basis and through what kinds of social relations. It deprives us, too, of the capacity to determine how we want to use the social surplus we collectively produce; how we want to relate to nature and to future generations; how we want to organize the work of social reproduction and its relation to that of production. Capitalism, in sum, is fundamentally anti-democratic. Even in the best-case scenario, democracy in a capitalist society must perforce be limited and weak."

https://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/publications/centerpiece/fall2...

dlev_pika•1h ago

And that’s why capitalists have been fundamental actors to bring XX AND XXI century fascism - it happened with Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, innumerable less prominent fascists in LatAm, and now the with the obscene caricature that is Trump and the uber rich to do their bidding.

ch4s3•8m ago

The fascism of Europe in in the 1930s was EXPLICITLY anti-capitalist. You can read tons of statements by various prominent fascists about how capitalism was the tool of the British empire and "globalists"(they often used a different word). They viewed it as separating the people from the land. Capitalists were not in any way fundamental to the rise of Nazism.

If you're on about Pinochet, he only embraced market reforms 3 years after coming to power and came to power directly by a military coup. Business leaders had basically nothing to do with it.

skybrian•44m ago

Do you really want to see votes on "exactly what and how much we want to produce" at each factory? Or what farmers plant?

jrflowers•23m ago

Yeah imagine an economic system where farmers can’t even plant the seeds produced by the crops that they grow every year

defrost•20m ago

I'm in a massive grain belt ATM, as a sign of the times I can't place whether that's a reference to GM crops or the immediate issue of fuel and fertilizer.

adrianN•27m ago

There are very few purely capitalistic countries. All countries that I can think of use taxes and regulations to influence market equilibrium. „letting the market figure it out“ is usually the political expression for „I like the current state better than what the opposition proposed“.

Mistletoe•1h ago

Don’t say US. They don’t speak for us all. Only 49.8% of voters. Of which I hope a significant portion have seen the error of their ways come midterms and the next election.

Every day is a new embarrassment law or action like this for America until then. I’ve never felt lower about America in my lifetime. The hope I had, the pride I felt in America, is gone, chunk by chunk, piece by piece, every day.

jrflowers•1h ago

This is a good point. Instead of saying “The US” they should make up a number <50% and put that in the headline. That way it would be confusing and patently untrue

foogazi•1h ago

> Don’t say US. They don’t speak for us all. Only 49.8% of voters.

E pluribus unum

SanjayMehta•22m ago

Out of many one. Look up the definition of "fasces." I love that it's literally a US symbol.

https://academic.oup.com/book/44680/chapter-abstract/3787689...

sheept•1h ago

Why? I don't see this pedantry for headlines for other countries like China did this, the UK does that. I think it's well understood that it's referring to the government, not a generalization of its people.

perching_aix•59m ago

My experience is the exact opposite. It is one of the most common points of pedantry I see in controversial political threads, across nations.

Not for no reason either. Turnout was 64.1%, so really it's the active decision of 31.9218% of voters (voting eligibles) culminating in this. Kind of a pattern with modern democracies if you check.

Not that passively endorsing this by not voting when the opportunity was there would be much better though.

Detrytus•47m ago

I hate this line of reasoning. People who didn't vote are equally guilty, because they did not care enough to show up. Or, maybe, they just didn't make it to polling station on time for some reason (having to pick up kids from school, or working second shift or something). You should always assume that the result of the elections is representative of what society thinks. That's how elections (and opinion polls, for that matter) work. Unless you have a really good proof why some minority group was actively excluded from voting.

perching_aix•11m ago

There is actually extensive mathematical history to fair voting, the output of which is super not in use, and of which I do find plenty of the alternative systems more representative:

https://youtu.be/qf7ws2DF-zk

I do think regular variety elections are generally representative though. I just also see value in keeping these asterisks in mind.

bediger4000•51m ago

Trump's exceptional, isn't he? He explicitly only governs for his base, and he's explicitly against those outside his base. Sure, he won a slim majority, but it's understood that democratically elected rulers govern all their citizens, if only to prevent electoral violence.

surgical_fire•1h ago

> One species of Gulf whale is particularly vulnerable. Scientists estimate that only about 51 Rice's whales are left on Earth, all of them in waters of the Gulf of Mexico, which the Trump administration has termed the Gulf of America.

I don't think the animals that may go extinct care about the distinction.

tartoran•47m ago

But we all do, and will impact us all directly or indirectly.

brendoelfrendo•37m ago

I mean, I didn't vote for Trump, but I think it should be the US. This administration represents us on the global stage. You may not like it, and it may not feel fair, but we will all have to bear the consequences of their actions. Every day something like this happens--and is allowed to happen--is an embarrassment to all of us.

georgemcbay•5m ago

Agreed.

I voted against Trump 3 times. But people outside of the US should definitely act as if they cannot trust the US. Because they can't.

waterTanuki•7m ago

Everyone who sat out the 2016 and 2024 elections is responsible for this clown getting into office.

*Democracy is not a spectator sport*. You don't get to complain about corrupt politicians and then go on to make excuses about why you can't vote. You're wasting your citizenship. Either go vote or move to a dictatorship where voting isn't a concern.

crooked-v•1h ago

Oppositional defiant disorder on a cultural scale. Liberals want to protect animals and shift to use of green energy; therefore the fossil fuel industry must be promoted at all cost (even when they don't want to be, as with Trump forcing obsolete coal plants to remain open) and endangered animals must be killed off.

nba456_•1h ago

Good. Environmental regulations are too strict and energy independence is national security. Current world events prove both of these things true.

foogazi•1h ago

> Current world events

Let’s kill animals AND people to make oil expensive

mtoner23•1h ago

we are already mostly energy independent. dont understand how dumping oil on gulf animals helps

danans•44m ago

> we are already mostly energy independent

The US is the largest oil producer, but also still one of the largest oil importers, and oil prices are set by a global market, so the phrase "energy independent" is at best an accounting trick.

The only way we can get truly energy independent is by electrifying most non fossil fuel requiring end uses and supplying that electricity with renewables or nuclear (from domestically sourced uranium) - basically the direction China is going.

Then we could perhaps decouple a bit from the global oil market assuming our domestic supplies could be channeled towards things like plastics and jet fuel that are hard to replace.

Otherwise we are stuck with the global oil market and its price risks. Reducing animal protection in the Gulf won't change that because US oil producers won't drill unless the can sell at the global oil price.

MiguelX413•25m ago

The US should simply ban energy exporting.

tzs•54m ago

Removing protection for these particular animals will no measurable effect on US energy supply or security.

fellowmartian•53m ago

We MADE the energy expensive.

hsuduebc2•51m ago

So this specific person singlehandedly doubles the price of oil in a span of one week with his absolutly unnecessary reckless action but for some reason environmental regulations are the problem.

Seems about right.

hsuduebc2•49m ago

"National security" is becoming absolutely ridiculous statement over last years.

MiguelX413•26m ago

It was never coherent.

michaelhoney•48m ago

You don't live outside the environment. Educate yourself.

stephenhuey•42m ago

The current administration has worked hard to reduce overall energy supply to enrich specific suppliers. There's a lot that can be done to increase energy independence, but increasing energy independence is clearly not a goal of the administration.

mcdeltat•16m ago

Let's raise energy independence by doubling down on oil, a resource we know will be exhausted sometime soon!

This is basically the opposite of what any kind of reasonable long term thinking would argue for.

whalesalad•58m ago

I always thought Trump was such a joke. Completely non-threatening, just a big personality who kept popping up here and there. I even bought a MAGA hat back in the summer before the election explicitly because I thought it was hysterical he was even running, and knew he would lose. I thought the whole thing was a gag, a joke, just like Bloomberg. It didn't even cross my mind that someone so woefully inadequate for the position, so abrasive, so criminal, so disgusting -- could ever get elected to the presidency. In the grand scheme of the universe, he was a nobody. His name would have died with him.

Boy was I wrong. His name will be studied for decades to come in all the worst ways.

SanjayMehta•26m ago

All US presidents were war criminals and worse. Even St JFK. I'll cut some slack for FDR for dismantling the British Empire.

Trump is the first honest one, he's not a hypocrite, he's just a good old war criminal. His autobiography could be called "Mein Wahrheit."

pstuart•18m ago

Honest is a word that can never be associated with the man, other than an antonym.

He's also a hypocrite (he wields Christianity like a weapon but is not a believer), talks about law and order but believes it doesn't apply to him, etc.

If I had to use one word in that vein it would be "clear". He makes it very clear who he is and what his values are.

alanwreath•51m ago

Wasn’t diversifying US energy sources also a national security issue? And wind energy was set aside because, wait for it, they killed animals. Birds to be specific.

helterskelter•32m ago

Remember when we destroyed Iran's nuclear program before we destroyed it last month? This administration is perfectly consistent with being inconsistent.

Glyptodon•6m ago

The folks in charge just want what they want without rhyme or reason. Mix a mind virus and joy of power together and get your eratic clown show. And many times it can go on a lot longer than you'd ever guess.

Unfortunately as a society we keep moving further and further away from the foundations of a functional society based on a representative government and considering the general welfare.

arjie•48m ago

The thing says they can now dispose of trash and do loud things in the Gulf of Mexico (America haha). But what does that actually get us?

Googling and LLMing around it allows normal sea operations in the Gulf so drilling is possible etc. Interesting. So they’re going to try to get more oil out of there?

Can’t say I trust their competence very much here. It’s more likely to be a carve out for a friend than anything else and I’m pretty pro deregulation in general.

beerandt•35m ago

This is more preemptive I suspect- 'they' have been reclassifying different species trying to get a bona-fide Gulf endangered one to use against exploration and production. Especially that one whale subspecies.

This kills that on multiple fronts.

coliveira•29m ago

The goal for these companies is not to extract more oil. This is the bait. They want to produce the same amount of oil they already do, but pay less for the expenses of doing anything to comply with regulations.

pstuart•25m ago

> But what does that actually get us?

Who said anything about "us". Every action taken by this administration is specifically for self-enrichment (directly or to cronies/patrons), the destruction of things that they deem "woke", and the punishment and persecution of their perceived enemies and non-humans.

I wish that was hyperbole, and that I could be proven wrong.

cynicalsecurity•25m ago

In current circumstances, this is a smart move.

diego_moita•17m ago

No. It is like a drug addict doubling down in its obsession.

Oil is in the way out. Only countries addicted to oil don't see that. And the Americans are addicted to oil.

dboreham•24m ago

Wingardium Leviosa!

0xbadcafebee•16m ago

2028: "To be secure as a nation we need to stamp out all dissent against the government and require all citizens to swear unyielding loyalty to the President."

kingkawn•50s ago

This is 100% coming barring a mass political rising

0xbadcafebee•7m ago

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