On the recordMay 5, 2011
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven crewmen and causing over 4 million barrels of oil to spill into the gulf. Now, barely a year after the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, the majority is rushing three reckless offshore drilling bills to the floor as if the Deepwater Horizon disaster never happened. Under the guise of combating high gasoline prices, today's legislation proposes to mandate the sale of three leases in the Gulf of Mexico and a fourth lease off the coast of Virginia--whether or not appropriate safeguards are in place. Astonishingly, the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act actually requires the Secretary of the Interior to rely on demonstrably unrealistic environmental reviews conducted under the Bush Administration for purposes of approving these four leases. For example, these pre-spill analyses assumed that the worst case scenario for a Gulf oil spill would involve 4600 barrels of oil--or about 1/1000 the actual amount of oil spilled by the Deepwater Horizon. Fortunately, the Obama Administration is taking a more responsible approach. Using the lessons we have learned from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Obama Administration has announced that it is prepared to move forward with the three Gulf lease sales by the middle of 2012-- after rigorous, post-spill safety and environmental standards have been put into place.…
