Samuel Martin - Washington Rolls Back Safety Rules Inspired by Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Washington Rolls Back Safety Rules Inspired by Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Summary:
President Trump's White House administration has recently revoked safety law put in place by President Obama, concerning offshore oil and gas drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. These laws were put into place after the famous Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010, where 4.9 million barrels of oil (over 157 million US gallons) were dumped into the sea causing tons of damage to coastal states as well as the birds and fish that live in the sea. Included in these rules are ones which force drilling companies to install "blowout preventer" and have them certified by 3rd party companies. These laws were revoked because they were putting a burden on the oil industry, "without increasing the safety of the workers or protection of the environment," according to the statement released by the current administration. This essentially means that the government and the affected companies are more interested in their economy than keeping the Earth clean. Environmentalists are worried that with a relaxation of policy, industries will have less concern for the end users of the products that they are drilling for.

Analysis:
This article was written September 27, 2018, which means that it has the most up to date information and opinions, but it means that the issue is not final and ideas and information is subject to change. I remember reading about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on a SAT test, and the effects it had on the millions of birds and fish, so I already knew a bit about how devastating this was to the environment and how the new policies would make sure this would never happen again. The repeal of these laws are like when congress repealed the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) with the 21st amendment in the early 1900's. This article was written for everybody in America, to tell them about the effects of a past disaster and how the rules that were enacted to prevent it were revoked. This article was written by Coral Davenport, who writes from Washington D.C. about the United States environmental policy, with a focus on climate change. Davenport covered these rulings when President Obama created them in an interview with the former president, so she really understands the positive and negative impacts that this will have. This article is important because the Earth is the only home we will get, and we need to see how we can help the economy but also make sure that we don't ruin the earth just for economic profit. If we can't balance both sides of this issue, we will kill all of the fish and birds and everything that they are connected to, and we could eventually die from the lack of food in the world.

Source:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/climate/offshore-drilling-safety-deepwater-horizon.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&action=click&contentCollection=us&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=36&pgtype=sectionfront