A proposal by the Trump administration to expand offshore oil and gas drilling could result in over 4,000 oil spills in U.S. waters, according to an analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity.
The draft proposal, announced in November, seeks up to 34 offshore oil and gas lease sales over five years. This plan could open 1.27 billion acres of federal waters, including regions in the Gulf of Mexico, California, and Alaska, to drilling. This expansion surpasses previous administrations’ leasing. These leases add to the 36 mandated by Congress under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Implementation of this plan could release more than 12 million gallons of crude oil into essential marine areas, which are currently undrilled, researchers report.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, responsible for implementing the plan, did not comment.
“This plan would open a vast amount of waters to new oil and gas drilling,” stated Kristen Monsell, legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, emphasizing potential harm to marine life.
“This would devastate species like walrus and polar bears in the Arctic and Rice’s whales in the Gulf of Mexico,” Monsell noted.
Rice’s whales, critically affected by offshore drilling, exemplify this threat. With only about 50 left in the Gulf of Mexico, the population dropped over 20% after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, which released over 210 million gallons of oil.
The Center for Biological Diversity’s analysis, based on federal records of spill rates from 1974 to 2015, predicts the likelihood of spills under the Trump administration’s 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program.
The anticipated 4,232 spills may be underestimated, Monsell said, as it excludes spills from tankers or major disasters like Deepwater Horizon. Over half could occur in the Gulf of Mexico, the hub of U.S. offshore drilling.
“They call us the sacrifice zone,” stated Christian Wagley from Healthy Gulf, highlighting the Gulf’s dense oil infrastructure. Rice’s whales are vulnerable to vessel strikes in these trafficked areas.
The eastern Gulf, largely untouched by drilling, offers some refuge to whales. However, the Trump administration proposes drilling there as well, potentially threatening 20 million acres of the eastern Gulf, Wagley added.
Oil rigs could be placed 100 miles from Florida’s coast, a distance Wagley believes insufficient for protection.
Oceanographers at Current Lab have released oil-spill visualizations, showing how ocean currents could carry oil from spill sites.
“The Gulf simulation showed oil reaching Cuba and Miami Beach,” noted Kevin Rosa, founder of Current Lab.
Drilling in the Gulf’s deeper areas poses cleanup challenges, according to Joseph Gordon from Oceana. Spills would be harder to detect and control.
Similarly, Arctic drilling near Alaska would be difficult to manage due to its remoteness and severe weather, said Doug Helton, a former NOAA official. Limited access to ports and equipment could delay spill responses.
Conventional tools like booms and skimmers may not work in harsh conditions. Dispersants, used to break down oil, can’t be deployed in poor visibility, common in Arctic conditions, Helton observed.
“Eighty percent of the time, this technology is unusable,” Helton stated. “Oil could disperse at sea or reach remote shores.”
Public opposition to the drilling plan is significant, with around 300,000 objections filed during a 60-day comment period, environmental groups reported. Legal challenges are anticipated.
“We’re at a crossroads,” stated Gordon from Oceana, suggesting a shift toward renewable energy. “Or risk being locked into fossil fuels and the ensuing damages.”
Original Story at insideclimatenews.org