On April 20th, 2010, over 210 million US gallons of oil poured out of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, causing one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. For over 87 days oil flowed out of the rig affecting 68 thousand square miles of ocean waters. As of November 1st, of the same year, wildlife responders had collected over 8 thousand birds, 1 thousand sea turtles and 1 hundred marine mammals injured by the oil. This catastrophe led to a policy revolution as Secretary Salazar announced the creation of 3 new entities in charge of offshore drilling: Bureau of Ocean Management (BOEM), Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) and new, stricter, requirements for offshore energy development including the development of Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) to protect workers and prevent accidents and new drilling safety rules for cementing and other critical elements of construction. Hope was restored for a short period of time as the government began to take responsibility for energy development, until President Donald Trump and Secretary of Interiors Ryan Zinke decided to reopen coastal waters to oil drilling and abolish certain regulations. To quote the final report from the Macondo spill: “The root causes of the disaster are systematic and, absent significant reform in both industry practices and government policies, might well recur.” So, if our policies are changing again, allowing even more drilling than previously, what will happen to our oceans and ecosystems?
The dispute with regards to opening coastal waters to offshore drilling has been a long, controversial issue. Even Obama’s administration who created the regulations previously mentioned supported offshore drilling in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico for a short extent of time. The important detail to take into consideration, however, is that eventually his administration created important restrictions and requirements. Trump’s administration has rolled back on the regulations established by Obama after the BP disaster. Zinke and the Department of Interior have removed and amended rules on safety, the need for a third party to certify effective operations and the requirement to notify the BSEE of false alarms proceding from safety equipment sensors, to name a few. The consequences associated with allowing more construction, development with less regulations are monumental.
Firstly, the environmental impacts. Offshore drilling puts waters and wildlife at risk of explosions, spills and blowouts. Burning oil and gas will continue to contribute and worsen carbon pollution which is in turn causing climate change and the warming and acidification of our oceans, ultimately becoming the largest threat to it by demolishing coral reefs and marine ecosystems. Approximately 195 million gallons of gas are lost in our oceans yearly from extraction, transportation and consumption. The construction process of an oil rig is still quite environmentally erratic which is best demonstrated by the drilling muds used in drilling operations that release toxic chemicals. One drilling platform drills between 70 and 100 wells that emit 90 thousand metric tons of fluids such as mercury, lead and arsenic. Furthermore, the economic aspect. Although many argue that Trump’s administration’s new plan will create new jobs, drilling offshore does not establish more jobs that it could onshore. A spill could have a prominent impact on those living onshore whose jobs rely on the ocean such as fishing, tourism and recreation. After the BP oil spill, tourism in the Gulf lost 22.7 billion dollars and the fishing industry lost 247 million dollars. Are we willing to jeopardize new coastal areas for oil when there are rigs that are still in function? Quoting Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club lands protection program, “Nothing could be more reckless than seeking to expose more of our coasts to the risks of drilling while simultaneously increasing those risks by rolling back commonsense safety standards designed to protect workers and the environment from disasters like Deepwater Horizon.”