Report | April, 2012
Offshore Drilling Reform Report Card 2012
To commemorate the second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, Oceana issued a report card that shows how the United States government and the oil and gas industry have failed to effectively improve the regulation and safety of offshore drilling in the two years since the worst accidental oil spill in world history. According to the report card, even where actions were taken, Oceana found the efforts to be “woefully inadequate.”
In the report, Oceana analyzes the progress made towards reaching the key recommendations of several high-level commissions and panels established in the aftermath of the spill, primarily the Presidentially-appointed National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling (the National Commission) and the National Academy of Engineering.
Out of the nine categories of recommendations put forth by the National Commission such as improving the safety of offshore operations and safeguarding the environment, government and industry received six failing grades from Oceana. In three areas, the government received “D” grades, indicating that efforts were made, but that they were unsatisfactory overall. The report gives additional detail about specific actions evaluated in each category.