By Shiva Polefka

Today, Saturday, April 20th, marks the third anniversary of the explosion aboard BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 workers and set off the largest accidental spill in the oil industry’s history. The ruptured Macondo well spewed nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil over the course of the summer, ultimately fouling more than 1,000 miles of Gulf of Mexico coastline and bringing the vast fishing and tourism industries of the region to a standstill, before the Macondo well was finally sealed and “killed” on September 19, 2010.

Following the Deepwater Horizon blowout, President Obama appointed a panel of experts that convened as the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. Its final report, issued in January 2011, revealed the irresponsible practices of BP and its contractors, uncovered a lack of federal oversight, and provided a comprehensive set of policy reforms that would make the offshore energy industry safer.

Earlier this week, members of the Commission, now acting independently as a group called Oil Spill Commission Action (OSCA), released their second “Report Card” on the progress major actors were making to implement their recommendations.

So, three years after the catastrophe, what has changed? Have we acted on the painful lessons taught by Deepwater Horizon? Are government and industry leaders taking steps to reduce the risk of another destructive spill or blowout? The answers are decidedly mixed.

Department of the Interior and Industry

OSCA awarded the Obama administration a B, in recognition that the Department of the Interior has enacted some of the safety reforms recommended within the official report, and brought about a 15 percent increase in offshore rig inspections occurring in the Gulf.

OSCA gave the oil industry a B-, noting that it has voluntarily contributed in meaningful ways to the reduction of risk future oil spills in response to Deepwater Horizon, by implementing new safety standards and readying four oil well capping systems for the Gulf of Mexico like the one ultimately used to stanch the Macondo well’s blowout. Before Deepwater Horizon, no such systems existed.

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New Interior Secretary Sally Jewell’s first day was today. One of the first things that will cross her desk is a letter asking her to halt coal mining leases on public lands in the Powder River Basin.

Coal is the largest single source for U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Domestic coal use has leveled off and coal companies want to export it to other countries. But we as taxpayers can stop this from happening because we own much of the coal still in the ground.

The Powder River Basin stretches from Wyoming to Montana. Each of the top ten coal mines in the country are in the Basin, and most coal deposits on public lands are mostly located there. This area holds 1 trillion tons of coal — though only 25 billion tons of it are economically feasible to actually pull out of the ground.

The letter (full text found here) points out that those 25 billion tons would not only be unfeasible, they would be disastrous:

Coal remains the largest single source of climate pollution in the United States. Coal mined in the Powder River Basin alone (80 percent of which is federal coal) is the source of 13 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions. As the steward of one of the world’s largest coal reserves, Department of Interior can no longer ignore the enormous climate impact of new and existing coal leases….

Absent a moratorium and reform, Interior is poised to approve 3.5 billion tons of new coal mining, which would be an unprecedented expansion of federal coal extraction. DOI cannot facilitate these massive extraction projects without undermining President Obama’s commitment to address climate change.

The climate argument should be all that is needed in this debate, but there is even more to the story. American taxpayers subsidize coal through tax breaks, public lands loopholes, and railroad subsidies. In January, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) asked Secretary Jewell’s predecessor Ken Salazar to investigate if U.S. taxpayers were getting bilked by coal companies mining public lands and selling their product to foreign markets.

This is important because the Bureau of Land Management, which administers the lands and leases, is supposed to “ensure that the development of coal resources is done in an environmentally sound manner and is in the best interests of the Nation.”

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News outlets reported this morning that President Obama will name Sally Jewell, CEO of the outdoor company REI, as his next Secretary of the Interior.  As the Washington Post wrote, Jewell:

…has earned national recognition for her management skills and support for outdoor recreation and habitat conservation.  In 2011 Jewell introduced Obama at the White House conference on “America’s Great Outdoor Initiative,” noting that the…outdoor-recreation industry supports 6.5 million jobs.

The Department of the Interior is the agency responsible for the management of 700 million acres of public lands onshore, in addition to nearly a billion acres offshore.  It oversees areas important to American culture and history, like national parks and national seashores, in addition to a significant amount of fossil and renewable energy development like solar energy and offshore wind.

Jewell, if confirmed by the Senate, embodies the true meaning of conservation in the 21^st century.  At the helm of a $2 billion dollar company, she understands the economic value of conservation that requires it to be on equal ground with energy development on public lands.  This type of leadership is particularly important in a time of changing climate.

But a steady chorus is growing to encourage a better balance between energy development and conservation when it comes to public lands and
waters.  In fact, just yesterday, former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt called on the current administration to permanently protected one acre for every one leased for oil and gas development.  He noted that:

So far under President Obama, industry has been winning the race as it obtains more and more land for oil and gas. Over the past four years, the industry has leased more than 6 million acres, compared with only 2.6 million acres permanently protected.  This lopsided public land administration in favor of the oil and gas industry cannot continue.

There are a number of important and controversial decisions regarding public lands and waters that are upcoming.  But the nomination of Sally Jewell seems to indicate a recognition that other uses of public lands and waters like scenery, conservation, clean air and water, and their role in adaptation to climate change are just as important—especially economically—as energy development.

By John Podesta

In his inaugural address, President Obama laid out a clear commitment to “our children and future generations,” saying that as a nation we must “maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure—our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks.” This includes the more than 700 million acres of public lands—national parks, monuments, forests and wildernesses—that belong to all Americans.

Indeed, it is one of the great responsibilities and joys of a president to uphold and maintain the uniquely American commitment to conservation. One of my proudest accomplishments from my time with President Clinton was working with Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt to protect the national treasure of our public lands. Together, we helped President Clinton protect more land in the lower 48 states than any president since Teddy Roosevelt.

Since then, however, conservation has all too often taken a back seat to issuing energy leases for development of public lands. That’s why today, Secretary Babbitt introduced a bold new idea for America’s public lands that will put conservation on equal ground with energy development. Secretary Babbitt, in remarks at the National Press Club, proposes that President Obama adopt a simple “One-to-One” principle: for every acre of land leased for energy development, another acre of public land will be protected for future generations.

Both President Clinton and President George H.W. Bush ended their time in office with the number of acres of public land permanently protected comparable to those leased for oil and gas development.  However, the scales have inexorably tipped in favor of the oil and gas industry during the first four years of the Obama administration, with almost two and a half acres leased for every one permanently protected.

Secretary Babbitt’s remarks by no means suggest that energy leases for public lands cease. Instead, we must recognize that any sustainable energy strategy must address conservation as a tool to protect clean air and water, especially in the face of a changing climate. We must balance the economic pressures of today against the need to preserve public spaces and natural resources for the long term. Secretary Babbitt’s proposal is all the more needed in the face of the ongoing oil and gas boom, lest an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy become an “all-of-the-acres-drilled” strategy.

To be sure, we have seen significant, hard-won conservation successes over the past four years. As part of the America’s Great Outdoors initiative, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar traveled the country to hear from local communities and identify conservation priorities.  This level of collaboration takes time and has prepared the administration well to move forward with protecting landscapes with strong local support, starting with honoring the request by New Mexico Senators Udall and Heinrich to designate Rio Grande del Norte as the nation’s next national monument.

The last Congress’ inaction on dozens of wilderness bills introduced by various members—bills that would have protected 5 million acres of public land—should help motivate President Obama to creatively use the executive authorities provided to him.  This is not just about protecting the freedom to roam the wide open country that belongs to all of us.  It is about the 6.1 million American jobs and $646 billion in spending directly supported by the outdoor industry, which depends on protected public lands.  That’s an industry practically twice the size of the oil and gas industry.  That’s part of the reason why in 2011, 100 economists wrote to President Obama stating that they see federal protected public lands as “essential to the West’s economic future.”

Protected public lands are more than just beautiful landscapes.  They are economic drivers that ensure the health and vitality of our great nation are preserved for our children and for future generations, as President Obama noted on Inauguration Day. It’s time to put conservation of these lands back on an equal footing with energy development.

John Podesta is the Chair of the Center for American Progress and the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Full remarks of Former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt:

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Last summer, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar expressed his faith in Shell’s ability to handle drilling in Arctic waters.

“I believe there’s not going to be an oil spill,” said Salazar.

But after Shell lost control of two drilling rigs, crushed its oil-response equipment, and received more than 30 safety and environmental warnings that forced regulators to dock one of its ships, Salazar seems ready to re-consider the implications of offshore drilling in the region six months later.

Yesterday, the Interior Department said it would conduct a two-month review of Shell’s drilling plans. This morning, Salazar elaborated on concerns at the department about Shell’s recent “troubling…series of mishaps.”

Bloomberg reported on his comments:

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said a 60-day assessment of drilling in Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas will be used in considering future permits for Arctic exploration. Environmental advocates said the review should lead to tighter government rules, or even force Shell to suspend its efforts.

“It’s troubling that there was such as series of mishaps,” Salazar said today at during a Washington meeting of an agency offshore-drilling advisory panel. If the drill ship, the Kulluk, is damaged, “it may be that Shell isn’t even ready to move forward in 2013” with oil drilling, he said.

Shell has spent $4.5 billion over the last five years to prepare for drilling offshore for oil in the Arctic — a region melting quickly due to carbon pollution from fossil fuels. Last year, the Interior Department granted Shell permits for exploratory drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, allowing Shell to move equipment up Arctic waters and begin drilling test wells.

As problems piled up for Shell in its first summer drilling in the region, Environmental groups reacted by calling on the Interior Department to revoke permits for the company, saying the risks are too high to warrant continued operations.

For a full re-cap of Shell’s year in the Arctic, see our timeline.

“The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) today issued an approval of Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc.’s Oil Spill Response Plan for the Beaufort Sea,” the Department of Interior agency tasked with approving oil spill plans has announced. Shell plans to drill up to four shallow water exploration wells in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea this summer, beginning on July 1. The expansion of offshore drilling into the dangerous and fragile Arctic seas not only threatens that ecosystem with unmanageable disaster, but represents a reckless disregard for the urgency of decarbonizing the global economy to avoid the risk of unstoppable global warming.

President Obama has withdrawn his nomination of Rebecca Wodder to be the assistant Interior secretary for fish, wildlife, and parks, after Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) blocked the pick. Wodder, the former CEO of American Rivers, was supported by environmentalists and even the Heartland Institute. Inhofe and Vitter blocked Wodder on behalf of the oil and gas industry. Inhofe explained he opposed Wodder over fracking, which she doesn’t even regulate:

They try to say it doesn’t directly affect the policy with hydraulic fracturing, and technically that’s right. But the fact that you come in as an activist with an extreme position is just more of the same in the administration, in every little corner of government.

Vitter had vowed he would block her confirmation unless Interior issued a blanket extension of all Gulf of Mexico drilling leases, Greenwire reports. The extension was not issued.

Wodder will work as an adviser at the department.

“Based on her extensive experience and expertise, the Secretary has asked her to serve as a senior adviser, working primarily on conservation issues and the America’s Great Outdoors initiative,” said Interior spokesman Adam Fetcher.