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Emergency Lawsuit Challenges Trump’s Unlawful Extinction Committee Meeting
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity filed an emergency lawsuit today against Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in federal district court in Washington, D.C., to prevent him from convening the Endangered Species Committee, also known as the Extinction Committee, on March 31.
Burgum wants the committee to approve the extinction of the extremely endangered Rice’s whale and the killing of endangered sea turtles and sperm whales by overriding a National Marine Fisheries Service requirement for Gulf of Mexico oil and gas industry to drive ships at safe speeds in the eastern Gulf and monitor the location of whales to avoid strikes and deaths.
“Burgum’s extinction committee is immoral, illegal and unnecessary,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “There’s no emergency, no legal basis to convene the committee, and no legal way to approve the extinction of Rice’s whales. This sham is nothing more than Burgum posturing for Trump and saving the fossil fuel industry a few dollars by allowing its boats to drive faster and more recklessly.”
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