One Year Later – What Oil Spill?

Next week we will commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and BP oil spill, a disaster that killed 11 men and devastated the environment and economy of the Gulf Coast. We’ll feature daily blog posts from faith leaders across the Gulf Coast and across the country on After the Spill throughout the week, so check back often for reflections and calls to action.

However, today I’m struck by two recent New Orleans Times-Picayune articles, both of which express the enormous frustration of Gulf residents at the government, the oil industry and all Americans for our failed response to the spill. The staff of the New Orleans Times-Picayune got it right in their recent piece: “A year after the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, Congress has done virtually nothing to address the issues raised by the oil spill — from industry liability limits, to regulatory reform, to coastal restoration, to broader issues of energy policy.”

The article outlines a litany of bills that never received Congressional votes or are languishing with the lack of attention on the Gulf Coast and oil industry practices. There were over 100 spill-related bills introduced last Congress, yet not a single one became law. As the article explains, “Alarm about an oil spill that spewed day after day, month after month, in an emotionally draining public drama, has given way to the more mundane but politically potent public panic about rising gas prices that once again puts a premium on boosting domestic production.”

The window is closing to enact the recommendations of the National Oil Spill Commission, a bi-partisan panel of experts who called in their final report for serious changes to the fossil fuel regulatory and oversight system, an increase in the liability cap and spending on coastal restoration. Congress must also act to ensure that Gulf Coast communities most impacted by the spill receive the resources they need to rebuild, and have a say in the fossil fuel development process for the future. One year later, we cannot give up on these critical reforms.

And Gulf Coast residents, even those that have long worked with the oil industry, are speaking out as never before. Ryan Lambert, owner of Cajun Fishing Adventure Lodge, has had a change of heart about both oil and environmentalists since the spill. He explains that “The fishing industry has always lived side-by-side with the oil industry down here in Plaquemines Parish, and they’ve always told us that if anything happened, they would take care of the problem.”

His next words hit the hardest: “Well, they lied. About everything. They didn’t take care of the problem, and they’re not taking care of us. Guys in my business weren’t made whole. A lot of them are starving. And now that the national media is gone, BP couldn’t care less.”

Like so many others, Lambert’s business plummeted last year in the wake of the spill, and many of his colleagues were left unemployed. Though he received a quick $5,000 check from BP, the relief money has since dried up along with national attention on the Gulf. His business remains down, and he argues that BP has utterly failed to meet its obligations to the people of the Gulf. He now works with environmental groups to speak out about the dangers of reliance on the oil industry.

Without media and public attention, the pressure on Congress and industry to act is greatly lessened, but I echo advocate David Petit of the Natural Resources Defense Council, who “hopes that coverage of the first anniversary of the BP spill on April 20 may refix the public mind on what happened a year ago, and put more pressure on Congress to act to make sure it never happens again.”

We’ll be doing our part through our blog series, action alerts and more, and hope all of you will join us in calling on our leaders to ensure that the Gulf is not forgotten and to finally take action to prevent future oil disasters. One year later, the need for action – and for voices calling on Congress, the Administration and the industry to live up to their responsibilities – is greater than ever.