Trump Rolling Back Rules Inspired by Deepwater Horizon Disaster – Do You Support the Rollback?

What’s the story?

• The Trump administration is relaxing offshore-drilling regulations that were put in place after the Deepwater Horizon spill.

What are people saying?

Supporters of the rollback

• Officials with the Interior Department said the revised Well Control Rule reflects President Donald Trump’s efforts towards “facilitating energy dominance” by boosting domestic oil production and relaxing regulatory burdens on the fossil fuel industry.
• “Today’s final rule puts safety first, both public and environmental safety, in a common sense way,” Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said in a statement last week.

“Incorporating the best available science, best practices and technological innovations of the past decade, the rule eliminates unnecessary regulatory burdens while maintaining safety and environmental protection offshore.”

Detractors of the rollback

• Diane Hoskins, campaign director at Oceana, called the Trump administration’s move “a major step backward in offshore drilling safety.”
• “Gutting the few offshore drilling safeguards established in wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster is reckless and wrong,” Hoskins said in a statement.

“More drilling and less safety is a recipe for disaster. We should be implementing new safety reforms, not rolling back the few safety measures currently in place.”

What do you think?

Do you support rolling back the Well Control Rule? Take action above then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: iStock / landbysea)