BP’s Macondo Oil Well Was Biggest Job Killer in the Gulf
Oil Spill Commission Finds Industry Disregarded Safety to Boost Profits
Press Release Date: January 26, 2011
Location: Washington, D.C.
Contact:
Dustin Cranor, APR | email: dcranor@oceana.org | tel: 954.348.1314
The bipartisan leaders of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling today underscored the most damning findings about the causes of BP’s Macondo well blowout. Specifically, Commission Co-Chairmen William Reilly and Bob Graham told Congress that BP’s and Transocean’s focus on speed, often at the expense of worker and environmental safety, appears to be widespread and systemic throughout the oil and gas industry.
These hearings follow on President Obama’s called for an end to oil company subsidies in his State of the Union address.
In response, Oceana, an international ocean conservation group, urges Congress to strengthen protections for oceans and to shift its focus from dirty and dangerous oil and gas development to clean energy, such as offshore wind. Oceana also urges Congress to act on the President’s call for an end to oil subsidies.
“If jobs and economic growth are the nation’s priority, then this is the moment of truth. Our nation should be investing heavily in clean energy to create jobs and stimulate the economy, rather than subsidizing and expanding risky offshore drilling. Offshore wind is a clean, limitless energy resource, which will yield better returns on investment to Americans than dirty, diminishing and dangerous oil and gas resources. The costs of the Deepwater Horizon spill will be astronomical and it’s clear it was the biggest job killer in the Gulf last year,” said Jacqueline Savitz, senior campaign manager, Oceana.
Three U.S. senators recently pointed out that the potential market for clean energy technology is $2 trillion, a fact not lost on government and corporate leaders in China and Europe. (Source: Clean Energy: Economic Key to 21st Century by Debbie Stabenow, Kay Hagan and Mark Udall, Politico.com, 11/17/10)
In fact, an Oceana analysis, Untapped Wealth: Offshore Wind Can Deliver Cleaner, More Affordable Energy and More Jobs than Offshore Oil, revealed that offshore wind projects along the U.S. Atlantic coast could easily supply nearly half of the current electricity generation of East Coast states and create hundreds of thousands of long-term jobs in the region. (see: http://tinyurl.com/oceanawindreport)
Oceana urges energy companies such as BP to invest much more in clean energy, rather than spending millions on advertising and lobbying to promote an expansion of risky offshore drilling.
“Americans will be watching these hearings to learn whether the worst accidental oil spill in history has persuaded our elected representatives to put our lives and livelihoods before record-setting oil company profits,” added Savitz.
Oceana’s team of marine scientists, economists, lawyers and advocates win specific and concrete policy changes to reduce pollution and prevent the irreversible collapse of fish populations, marine mammals and other sea life. Global in scope and dedicated to conservation, Oceana has campaigners based in North America, Europe, South and Central America. For more information, visit http://na.Oceana.org.
