When the Deepwater Horizon oil platform blew out in the Gulf of Mexico, it killed 11 people, more than 1 million sea birds, and massive amounts of marine life. It also spilled 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, resulting in billions of dollars of damages to fishing and tourism while simply fouling the water and the lives of millions of people living dozens, or even hundreds of miles away. So, naturally, Trump wants to make it possible for exactly this kind of massive disaster to happen again.
As the New York Times reports, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement—put in place after Deepwater Horizon to prevent just such an occurrence—has finalized a proposal aimed at getting rid of safety regulations that resulted from the disaster. As it has with so many regulations aimed at protecting worker safety or the environment, Trump’s team of swamp-dwelling lobbyists have concluded that the safety rules “created potentially unduly burdensome requirements.” Not that the rules did generate such burdens—they certainly haven’t halted either exploration or production—just that they “potentially” could. The report also insists that the new rules would not “meaningfully increase the safety of workers” or protect the environment, even though following these rules definitely would have prevented the disaster that killed 11 and scarred a region.
Safety is out. The environment is way out. What’s in isn’t just energy production, it’s “energy dominance by encouraging increased domestic oil and gas production and reducing unnecessary burdens by stakeholders.” Stakeholders are certainly not defined as the men and women on the rigs, or the people living around the Gulf, and certainly not the animals who depend on an oil-free sea.
Among the changes, the new rule removes a requirement for independent verification of safety measures and equipment used on offshore platforms.
So not only does the new rule weaken safety and environmental standards, it removes any requirement that anyone check to see that the companies are following any standard at all. As with almost everything in Trump’s deregulatory scheme, the equation is actually very simple:
Dollars > Lives.
