Washington, D.C. — At 10:30 a.m. ET today, nearly five years since the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) will host a press conference alongside scientists and locals from the Gulf and Alaskan coasts to discuss the BP spill’s continued impacts and the environmental, economic, and climate consequences of offshore drilling.
Center for American Progress Director of Ocean Policy Michael Conathan made the following statement:
Five years after the BP oil disaster, the Gulf of Mexico is still feeling the impacts. Yet now, the Department of the Interior is poised to allow Shell to resume exploratory drilling in the Arctic Ocean, hundreds of miles from even the most basic infrastructure, and despite the government’s own assessment, that production in the region would lead to a 75 percent chance of a major spill. As we consider our energy future, we must not allow the lessons of Deepwater Horizon to go unheeded.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Elise Shulman at [email protected] or 202-796-9705.