Leading Democrats: Once Again, Interior Acts at Behest of Oil and Gas Interests to Weaken Rules and Increase Risks to America’s Coasts

Washington, D.C. – Chairman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.); Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce; Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), chair of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources; and Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) released the following joint statement on today’s announcement that the Trump administration has finalized revisions weakening the Well Control Rule, which instituted safety standards designed to make offshore oil and gas drilling safer in response to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill:

“This administration has decided the federal government’s job is to prioritize oil and gas industry demands over the best interests of coastal communities and the environment. The Deepwater Horizon spill continued for months because a blowout preventer failed, not because of some unforeseeable act of fate. Weakening these rules puts workers’ lives and our shorelines at greater risk. We challenge Trump officials to look families living along our coasts in the eye after they finalize this move and tell them how this makes their communities safer.”

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