Trump Administration Holds Latest Giveaway of Gulf Waters to Oil Industry, First Since “God Squad” Decision

New Orleans, LA —

The Trump administration held its latest mass sell-off of public waters in the Gulf of Mexico, expanding access for an oil-and-gas industry already pulling in windfall profits on the backs of American taxpayers. The sale — the third of 30 scheduled through 2040 as mandated by last year’s Trump-Republican tax and spending law — was the first since the administration illegally exempted certain offshore oil-and-gas activities in the Gulf from needing to comply with the Endangered Species Act.

The sale could lead to drilling activities that harm numerous species, like whales, sea turtles, fish, rays, corals, and birds, especially now that the White House has torn down basic guardrails protecting Gulf marine life. For example, the administration received bids for leases in the Gulf that directly impact critically endangered Rice’s whale territory. 

This massive oil-and-gas auction of all available Gulf waters could also contribute to the negative impacts already being felt by Gulf communities, ecosystems, and the region’s economic vitality as a result of ongoing oil-and-gas activities, as BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster did. Yet the sale was the third straight in which the Trump administration cut out the public — including Gulf communities, fishermen and shrimpers, and businesses — from having any input even though Congress did not give the White House the authority to do so. 

The sale reflects the industry’s continued push into deeper and riskier Gulf waters, where they seek to exploit a new era of ultra-deepwater drilling. In March, the Trump administration approved one of the first such projects: BP’s Kaskida, which will be the U.K.-based company’s first completely new oilfield in the Gulf since its Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in 2010. Gulf groups challenged Kaskida’s approval, citing significant shortcomings with BP’s proposal, which failed to meet U.S. regulatory standards. But BP is already awaiting the approval of yet another project called Tiber.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has consolidated two federal agencies — one responsible for safety regulations, and another for approving offshore drilling projects — that were deliberately separated following Deepwater Horizon. This new, single agency could enable the same pattern of regulators compromising safety requirements that helped lead to the worst oil spill in U.S. history. (And it’s headed by a former oil lobbyist.)

Gulf and environmental groups responded to the Trump administration’s latest sale of public waters to the oil-and-gas industry:

“The selling off of our Gulf waters for the benefit of oil and gas companies is needlessly taking place yet again today,” said Martha Collins, Executive Director of Healthy Gulf. “Our Gulf communities already carry the burden of abandoned oil wells, spills leaking into our waters, and the increased chances of another disaster – this auction, number 3 of 30, perpetuates the legacy of neglect burdened upon the Gulf South by the oil industry. Our waters, wildlife, and ways of life in the Gulf will only continue to be threatened by these reckless sales of public waters.”

“The Trump administration is forcing yet another massive oil auction on the Gulf after gutting key protections for endangered marine life and shutting the public out of the process,” said Earthjustice senior attorney George Torgun. “Our public waters cannot keep being sold off to the oil industry, especially as the Trump administration rips down the guardrails protecting us from disasters like Deepwater Horizon. The Gulf must be managed in ways that benefit people, ecosystems and wildlife, not sold to the highest bidder.”

“The Trump Administration continues to show that they prioritize profit over people and the planet,” said Joanie Steinhaus, Oceans Program Director at Turtle Island Restoration Network. “The Gulf of Mexico has been sacrificed to the oil and gas industry for decades and we still have the scars to prove it. This lease sale could push Rice’s whales even closer to extinction. We cannot allow vulnerable ecosystems and frontline communities in the Gulf to continue to be destroyed for the sake of profit.”

“We’re at a point where we should be moving away from fossil fuels, not enabling an astounding amount of drilling for more than a generation to come,” said Kristen Schlemmer, Co-Executive Director for Bayou City Waterkeeper in Houston, Texas. “For communities in Houston and along the Texas Gulf coast, this administration is creating an especially toxic combination of risks. More drilling means more facilities in our backyards. Enabling more drilling for more than a generation will compound already elevated rates of cancer and heart and lung diseases, while also increasing risks during major storms.” 

“The Trump administration’s latest giveaway of public Gulf waters puts oil industry profits ahead of the health of oceans,  coastal communities, and wildlife. Opening even more of the Gulf to risky offshore drilling while dismantling Endangered Species Act protections and silencing public participation is a dangerous step backward. We cannot ignore the lessons of Deepwater Horizon,” states Mary Gutierrez, Director of Florida-based Earth Ethics. ” Expanding drilling into deeper waters, weakening safety oversight, and threatening critically endangered species like the Rice’s whale only increases the risk of another environmental catastrophe. Public waters belong to the American people—not to the highest bidder—and they must be managed with responsibility, transparency, and respect for future generations.” 

“Yet again, our ocean waters are being auctioned off to the highest bidder, at a time when this administration has recklessly decided to exempt certain Gulf oil and gas operations from Endangered Species Act protections,” said Julia Forgie, senior attorney at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). “Gulf communities are being forced to shoulder the risks while Big Oil reaps the rewards. This lease sale is another unacceptable giveaway that threatens wildlife, coastal economies, and the livelihoods of the people who depend on a healthy Gulf.”

“These lease sales were a bad idea last year, and they are still a bad idea today,” said Oceana Campaign Director Joseph Gordon. “A lease sale is the first step toward an oil spill catastrophe. This latest offshore drilling lease was mandated by Congress in the worst environmental bill in American history, and it will recklessly open millions of acres of our ocean to drilling and spilling. We need to protect our coasts, not destroy them.”

​“I often question if the Trump administration has realized that they don’t just reap the good that comes from the Gulf: the profit, the oil, the land,” says Coastal Botanist Aloe Lee with The Surfrider Foundation Louisiana. The bad –  the oil spills destroying our fisheries, critical habitats, and disrupting the cycles of migratory wildlife – impacts everyone. The bad – the home insurance rates, poor health from pollution, crippling infrastructure – will rise in every U.S. community that has a sky. That’s simply how vital the Gulf of Mexico is to this country. If you understand that, it should be no surprise that there is no ethical way to continue drilling without interfering with the health of our ocean and people.”

“Every new offshore lease sale locks us further into a failed strategy that sacrifices Gulf communities and wildlife for the benefit of oil companies already making enormous profits,” said Athan Manuel, Director of Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program. “The Trump administration has weakened environmental safeguards, ignored public input, and continues to hand over public waters to the highest bidder. We should be protecting the Gulf for future generations, not expanding the risks of more drilling and more pollution.”

“Once again, we’re seeing that this administration has no regard for the coastal communities along the Gulf who will be forced to live through the inevitable consequences of an oil industry free-for-all,” said Endangered Species Coalition Marine Life Coordinator Tommy Tucker. “From the degradation of habitat that wildlife and humans alike rely on to the increased risk of another massive oil spill, this sell-off of ocean waters that had been protected for the use of the public for the sake of industry is outright disrespectful.”