How the “God Squad” Could Cause Whales to Go Extinct

The action is a first step that is required before regulating microplastics and the other chemicals, and it does not tell water systems to remove them. In other words, it’s just the beginning of potential research that could take years, and regulation is not guaranteed.

Some environmentalists said the EPA’s move was merely performative and contrasts sharply with the agency’s rollback of standards for mercury emissions, weakening of PFAS limits, and delay of restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. Suzanne Novak, Director of Drinking Water Advocacy for Earthjustice, said in a statement that it was a “PR stunt,” not requiring a single test or standard, nor does it protect a single community.

Microplastics are everywhere on the planet and in our bodies. They come from clothing fibers, the breakdown of larger items like bottles, and manufacturing. So, is it possible to get them out of our municipal drinking water systems? A study published last year by scientists in South Africa, showed a method of using a powder that can attach onto microplastics and form clumps, which can then be pulled out of water. The authors wrote in The Conversation that they were able to remove more than 90 percent of plastic particles from wastewater systems.

Also last week, a group of environmental and health organizations sued the EPA for repealing federal limits on mercury and other air pollutants, saying the rollbacks put children and vulnerable people at risk. The Biden administration had issued standards that would have reduced coal plant pollution by 70 percent and would also have reduced emissions of nickel, arsenic, lead, and other toxins by two-thirds.

In 1978, the act was amended to create an Endangered Species Committee that could address “extremely rare situations” in which proposed federal action conflicted with the protection of an endangered or threatened species but where no workable options existed to protect wildlife. 

The committee is comprised of seven voting members: the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Army, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, the administrator of NOAA, one individual appointed by the president, and a representative from the affected state. The committee was nicknamed the “God Squad” for its authority to make life or death decisions about endangered animals and has convened only three times since its inception—that is until Tuesday, March 31, when its members voted to exempt oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
 
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth claimed the exemption was imperative for “reasons of national security" as the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has all but closed the Strait of Hormuz, sending fuel prices soaring. As the war dragged on, Hegseth said environmentalists’ lawsuits against the oil and gas industry were threatening to hobble domestic energy supplies. 

For their part, environmental groups say an exemption could accelerate the extinction of rare Rice's whales, found only in the Gulf of Mexico, where an estimated 51 of the animals remain. A 2025 National Marine Fisheries Service analysis determined that oil and gas operations in the gulf were likely to harm several species of whales, sea turtles, and Gulf sturgeon, which face potential harm from ship strikes, oil spills, and other impacts.

Environmental groups are suing the administration to block the exemption. Pat Parenteau, an emeritus law professor at the Vermont Law School, who helped write the original provision in the law, told CNN that the administration’s rationale in the case is weak from a legal standpoint because the Endangered Species Act is not currently threatening or blocking oil supplies in the U.S.

The facility in Fukuoka uses osmosis to make electricity by the movement of water from areas of low salt concentration through a membrane to areas with high salt concentration.

As the fresh water moves to the saltwater, the additional volume increases pressure on the concentrated side, which drives a turbine to generate electricity. The Japanese plant, which produces no CO2 and can run day and night in any weather, will generate enough power to operate a desalination facility in addition to more than 200 homes. The fresh water used comes from treated wastewater. The desalination facility will supply brine from its process to run the power plant.  

ZME Science reports that other pilot projects using the osmotic method are being pursued in Qatar, Spain, South Korea, and Norway. A demonstration plant began testing in France in 2024 using fresh water from the Rhône and seawater from the ocean. At that location all fresh water and saltwater is returned to the Rhône estuary with an intermediate salinity, according to the Paris Polytechnique Institute. The first osmotic plant opened in Denmark about three years ago. Some estimate that these systems could eventually generate almost 20 percent of the world’s electricity needs.

On April 1, shortly after takeoff, astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission reported a blinking fault light on their Orion spacecraft’s toilet. Mission Control determined the malfunction was a controller issue, and the crew was able to troubleshoot it within a few hours.

The Universal Waste Management System, as NASA calls it, is not just any old commode. It’s a real toilet—an upgrade from Apollo missions in the 1960s and ‘70s that didn’t have a toilet, let alone a bathroom with an actual door. In those days, crews collected their waste in bags.

To use Orion’s bathroom, which is technically called the "hygiene bay" and similar in size to a bathroom on a passenger jet, astronauts float in and strap in. Personalized funnels draw in urine and there’s a seat for solid waste. Automatic air flow, which helps reduce odor, pulls the waste away from the body and into storage containers. The suction is so loud that the crew wears ear protection while inside.

During longer missions, like aboard the International Space Station, astronauts recycle their liquid waste into potable drinking water. But given the Artemis II mission is a quick trip around the moon and back, the crew will vent urine into space. What’s that look like? On NASA’s live feed, the crew showed viewers a wastewater dump, which looked like sparkling stars passing by Orion’s window.