Legal action is ramping up against the Trump administration after it made it easier to drill for oil in the eastern Gulf. FOX 13's Evan Axelbank reports.

Florida

A legal dispute has emerged following a federal committee's decision to allow oil drillers to bypass certain endangered species protections when applying for new permits in the eastern Gulf. Environmental groups have responded by filing a lawsuit in the D.C. district court, arguing that the move violates the Endangered Species Act.

The committee's decision has raised concerns among both Democrats and Republicans, particularly in Florida. While the Secretary of Defense cited national security and energy independence as reasons for the change, environmentalists emphasized the need for minimal protective measures to prevent species like the rice's whale from extinction. The timeline for court proceedings remains unclear.

Legal battle brews over Gulf drilling permits

So legal action is now ramping up against the Trump administration after it made it a little bit easier to drill for oil in our eastern gulf this week. An obscure endangered species committee agreed to allow drillers to sidestep endangered species regulations when they apply for new drilling permits. It raised a lot of eyebrows especially in Florida. FOX 13's Evan Axelbank sent a newsroom tonight to show us the effort now to stop it. Evan. Well environmental lawyers believe there is a consensus among Democrats and Republicans that the idea of drilling anywhere in the eastern gulf is a bad idea. Earlier this week the federal endangered species committee allowed to agreed to allow drillers to discard endangered species protections when applying for new permits. The secretary of defense says it's critical to our national security to be able to produce enough oil for our military and for energy independence. But environmental groups held a press conference today to say they filed the lawsuit in D.C. district court in hopes of getting a judge to intervene. They say it's simply illegal to ignore the endangered species act. We can have whales and sea turtles and oil drilling in the gulf the same way we've had it for decades. So the goal is not to stop oil and gas drilling. It's to take some really minimal protective measures that make it so species like the rice's whale don't go extinct. And that can be done entirely consistent with oil and gas activity in the gulf. That's the endangered species committee met for only the third time in more than 50 years with members saying that environmental groups had filed frivolous lawsuits that have completely hampered the ability to drill for new oil. The administrator of the NOAA said that there are already numerous measures in place to protect rice's whale which are considered to be the most at risk by environmentalists. So it's not clear as to when the court proceedings are going to ramp up. But that suit was filed today. So we'll see when the government and when the court system kicks into gear, Mark. All right. We know you're going to keep watching it for seven. Thanks.

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