Environmental

BP Oil Commissioners Form Group to Monitor Government, Industry Progress


NRDC’s Beinecke: “Vigilance and Oversight are Essential’’ 

WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–March 14, 2012  – The seven members of President Obama’s National Oil Spill Commission, including Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, have formed a new organization to monitor the government’s and industry’s progress in implementing  their safety recommendations, made in January 2011.

“If America is to have the safest operations in the fragile offshore environment, it’s essential that our recommendations be implemented,” Beinecke said. “Vigilance and oversight of the oil industry are essential to the protection of the public’s interest.”

President Obama established the Oil Spill Commission in 2010, shortly after the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, to examine both its root causes and recommend options for guarding against and mitigating the impacts of future oil spills associated with offshore drilling.

The newly created “Oil Spill Commission Action” plans to issue its first report card on Congress, the administration and industry next month, around the second anniversary of the spill.

“The commissioners have become increasingly concerned that efforts to implement the recommendations are ebbing in spite of all that still needs to be done,” said William K. Reilly, co-chair of the president’s commission.

“We intend to do our best to ensure that the public and other stakeholders do not lose sight of the problems we identified and the actions needed to mitigate future spills like the Deepwater Horizon,” said Bob Graham, the commission’s other co-chair. 

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Livingston, Montana, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org
 
Source: nrdc.org

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