Trump’s Death Sentence for Whales
Eko

(April 25, 2026) — Trump just issued a death sentence for the last 51 remaining Rice’s whales on Earth — but it’s not too late to save them.

These remarkable giants exist only in the Gulf of Mexico, living in tight communities and raising their calves in waters they never leave. But a rarely-used federal panel known as the “God Squad” just handed oil and gas companies sweeping exemptions from endangered species laws — opening up the Gulf for drilling.

Scientists are sounding the alarm that this decision could mean the end of one of the rarest species on Earth, but there’s still a narrow path to stop it from happening.

One Senate committee has the power to intervene. So we’re going to build overwhelming public pressure to trigger an emergency Senate hearing, making this a massive global scandal and running hard-hitting ads to force it into the spotlight.

We don’t have much time. Can you rush a donation right now to help us save this rare whale species from extinction?

The Rice’s whale population is already incredibly vulnerable. The BP Deepwater Horizon disaster alone killed nearly 20 percent of the remaining population — and now oil and gas giants will be able to just ignore the protocols in place to protect vulnerable species.

The fact is this is about more than one species. More than two dozen endangered species call the Gulf home. Scientists warn that the oil and gas industry could now kill more than 30,000 sea turtles in the region in the coming decades. Not to mention creatures like the endangered sperm whale, the manatee, and endangered seabirds like the piping plover — all of which are now at risk.

When the powerful “God Squad” granted this rare exemption earlier this month, it was only the third time one was granted since 1973. And the other two exemptions were narrowly tailored to minimize impact. This time, Trump officials took just 17 minutes to decide the fate of entire species and ecosystems, giving oil and gas drilling a blanket pass under the guise of “national security” as energy instability grows thanks to Trump’s war on Iran.

With enough resources, we can launch a rapid, large-scale mobilization to force the leaders of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to step in. We’ll grow our massive global petition exposing this decision, up the pressure with hard-hitting ads that single out Senate decision-makers, and make this extinction decision so politically toxic that they face no choice but to reverse course.

If we don’t act immediately, Rice’s whales could disappear within our lifetime. This is exactly the kind of moment where public pressure can still change the outcome, but it’s going to take all of us standing together.  If we let this stand, it sends a chilling message: no species is safe. Together let’s show that we will not allow a law that has safeguarded wildlife for over 50 years to be brushed aside in minutes.

Thanks for all that you do, 
Allison and the team at Ekō