BP Oil Disaster: Two Years and Counting
Congress Has Not Passed a Single Law to Prevent Another Disaster
On April 20, 2010, a horrific explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and set off the worst corporate-made ecological disaster in our nation’s history.
Investigations into the rig explosion reveal that lax regulations led BP and its contractors to prioritize expediency and cost-cutting at the expense of worker safety and environmental protection.
But the government has yet to enact stronger safeguards.
We have learned that blowout preventers — the one piece of equipment that was supposed to be a fail-safe way to prevent an endless gusher — can fail if the force of oil is too strong.
But regulations to enhance well design requirements
and upgrade the emergency safety device that failed to contain the Macondo well
blowout are still pending.
We have seen what the oil has done to the Gulf community — to the beaches and marshes, to the wildlife, to the livelihoods of the residents.
None has fully recovered since the oil washed over their lives.
In the wake of this catastrophe, Congress has failed to pass meaningful legislation to hold the oil industry accountable, reform the regulatory process, and protect workers and the environment.
View our tally of how many recommendations from
the oil spill task force have been implemented (pdf).
Congressional action is needed to implement the oil spill commission recommendations (pdf)
Tell Congress to pass oil spill legislation.
But there are also actions the Obama administration can take to help protect people and the planet.
Urge President Obama to take the lead on Big Oil reform.
Two years of inaction is unacceptable. It is time to pass the necessary policies and reforms to address the lessons learned from the worst oil spill in U.S. history.