A massive deepwater oil spill is nearly as likely today as it was in 2010, experts warn... and has been made more likely by the Trump administration’s decision to loosen Obama-era safety rules... Outside of safety concerns, the scientific community is also increasingly encouraging world leaders to consider that any new oil development is unwise, as emissions from fossil fuels exacerbate global heating, threatening human civilization... Internal emails suggest expert agency staffers have disagreed with the rollbacks to drilling safety rules.

... “Offshore drilling is going after bigger and bigger wells that have more and more oil,” said Bob Deans, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council who co-wrote a book on the BP disaster. “These are being drilled in deep water and they’re being drilled in high pressure wells that are harder to control. And they’re being drilled in more complex geology.”