Tell Congress: Stop BP's Kaskida Drilling Project Now

Sixteen years ago today, BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, killing 11 people and dumping 134 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The damage to wildlife, coastline, and local communities took years — and billions of dollars — to even begin to address.

Last month, the Trump administration approved BP's $5 billion Kaskida project: the company's first new Gulf oil field since the 2010 disaster. Capable of producing 80,000 barrels of crude per day, Kaskida would drill deeper than Deepwater Horizon ever did. Environmental groups have now sued — on this anniversary — because the approval skipped required safety reviews and doesn't demonstrate BP can safely operate at that depth.

Tell Congress right now: Investigate and halt BP’s Kaskida project before drilling begins.

Under Trump, the agencies created after the 2010 spill to keep offshore drilling safe have been merged and weakened to speed up permitting. Drilling in the Gulf has been exempted from the Endangered Species Act — a law that makes it illegal to harm or kill protected wildlife — on so-called national security grounds. Just last month, a massive Gulf oil spill spread more than 373 miles and contaminated at least six species, yet approvals are accelerating, not pausing.

Congress has both the authority and the responsibility to act when the president fails to protect our environment. Tell Congress to take the following steps to stop Kaskida:

1. Demand a full congressional investigation into the Kaskida approval. The required safety documentation is missing. Congress must find out why it was waved through anyway.

2. Restore the independent safety agencies dismantled this year. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement were separated for a reason — because one catastrophic spill showed us what happens when industry oversight gets too cozy with industry promotion.

The Gulf's fishing communities, coastal ecosystems, and millions of residents cannot afford a repeat of 2010. Add your name and demand Congress act before the next blowout, not after.

In solidarity,

Action Collective