The “God Squad”: an Exception Mechanism

In this episode, I talk about a concept I recently came across called the “God Squad,” a committee in U.S. environmental law that can grant exceptions to endangered species protections.I share what I learned about how it works, how rarely it has been used in the past, and why it is starting to come up again in discussions around large infrastructure and energy projects.More than the system itself, this episode reflects on a broader question: how different societies handle exceptions to strong rules, and who gets to make those decisions.It’s a simple reflection on the balance between environmental protection, economic priorities, and the role of decision-making structures.