Reactions to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Reactions to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Reactions to the "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill from various officials and interested parties ranged from blame and outrage at the damage caused by the spill, to calls for greater accountability on the part of the U.S. government and BP, including new legislation dealing with preventative security and clean-up improvements. On 30 April 2010, President Barack Obama ordered the federal government to delay issuing new offshore drilling leases until a thorough review determined whether more safety systems were needed and authorized teams to investigate 29 oil rigs in the Gulf in an effort to
Oil spill governance in the United States Oil spill governance in the United States Oil spill governance in the United States is governed by federal law. The governance framework for oil spills in the United States prior to the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990 lacked proper consolidation and proved to be inadequate in preventing and responding to oil spillages. A timeline produced by the World Resources Institute (WRI) highlights some key events in oil drilling governance and regulatory system that ultimately govern oil spills in the United States. Although the OPA provides a framework for oil spillage governance recent events resulting in the BP deep water