Bernhardt Rolls Out Plan to Make Offshore Drilling More Dangerous

Washington, DC -- Today, David Bernhardt’s Department of the Interior released its final plan to roll back safety standards for offshore drilling. The blowout preventer rule was put in place by the Obama administration in response to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 people and spilled millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

The administration has also proposed a massive expansion of drilling off America’s coasts, including in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. The draft plan has faced widespread opposition from coastal communities and elected leaders from both parties, and the release of the final plan has been delayed indefinitely thanks to a recent court ruling rejecting the administration’s attempt to undo protections for the Arctic and Atlantic oceans from drilling.

In response, Athan Manuel, Director of the Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program, issued the following statement:

“Given David Bernhardt’s close ties to his former clients and friends in the fossil fuel industry, it’s no surprise that he’s seeking to give them free rein to spoil our coasts and public waters and put workers in harm’s way. These safeguards were put in place in response to the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, and with this latest favor for oil and gas companies Bernhardt is putting us at risk of a similar disaster. This is yet another example of this administration’s shameless attempts to please corporate polluters, no matter the cost to workers’ safety, our health, or the environment.”