The Endangered Species Act is the bedrock law that protects threatened plants and animals in the United States, and in the 50 years since it became law it has prevented thousands of resource-extraction projects — oil drilling, mining, and logging — from moving forward. The law is difficult to circumvent, but it does contain a key loophole. If the federal government wants to move forward with a project even though it will threaten an endangered species, it can convene a committee known as the “God Squad” — the heads of six executive agencies including the Interior Department, the EPA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — to vote on whether to override the law. The “God Squad” loophole is onerous by design, and it has only ever been invoked a few times . In 1978, the committee voted to deny an exemption for a small Tennessee dam; the following year, it voted in favor of a small Wyoming dam despite concerns about whooping crane habitat.…