John,
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill devastated Gulf Coast communities and habitat ten years ago – and it pushed the Bryde’s whale even closer to the brink of extinction. This endangered population of baleen whales – likely fewer than 50 of them remain -- depends on the enforcement of robust drilling safety and accountability measures.
But last year, the Trump Administration gutted safety precautions instituted in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
We need your help to send the president a clear message: Prevent another oil spill disaster by reinstating drilling safety measures and accountability.
When the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in 2010, it set in motion the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. For the following 87 days, an estimated 200 million gallons of crude oil polluted a huge area of the northern Gulf, including shorelines from Florida to Texas.
The official damage assessment estimated that 17 percent of the already small population of Bryde’s whales died as a result of the Deepwater Horizon, noting that the population was the most affected offshore marine mammal. The disaster put the Bryde’s whales in the Gulf at an even greater risk of extinction.
Please take action for endangered baleen whales.
Even worse, the assessment predicted that Bryde’s whales would see ongoing reproductive failures as a result of the oil exposure. Although this population has been added to the Endangered Species List, another devastating oil spill could mean the end of Bryde’s whales in the Gulf of Mexico. That is why the administration must immediately reinstate the enforcement of robust drilling safety and accountability measures.
By weakening oil drilling safety regulations and by directing oil rig regulators to complete fewer inspections and levy fewer fines, the Trump Administration is imperiling the Gulf Coast’s wildlife and coastal communities.
John, we need you to use your voice and call on the White House to change course and protect Bryde’s whales and other marine wildlife from fatal oil spills.
Thank you for all you do for wildlife,
