Drill offshore if it’s safe

When the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, 2010, and sank two days later, it killed 11 people and spawned the worst oil spill in U.S. history, gushing 200 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. Thousands of sea turtles and dolphins and perhaps a million birds perished. States lost an estimated $23 billion US in tourism-related dollars.

A commission of experts found systemic oil-industry failures. Now, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, in its rush to reverse Obama-era regulations, wants to roll back the very safeguards put into place following the commission’s recommendations — at the same time it is seeking to expand offshore drilling.

Scott Angelle, director of the federal bureau responsible for enforcement and a longtime Gulf Coast oil industry advocate, argues, in essence, that the oil industry can be trusted to police itself. Lifting these restrictions, he says, would save the industry $228 million over 10 years.

That would be good for the industry, but not necessarily for the environment. As the Deepwater commission noted: “Industry self-policing is not a substitute for government … and the cost of forgetting that essential premise can be calamitous.”

The U.S. needs oil, preferably from domestic sources. But the oil must be extracted carefully, with input from coastal states and under close government oversight. As Ronald Reagan used to say, trust, but verify.