The Trump administration is trying to slash a crucial protection that helps hold oil companies responsible for cleaning up the toxic wells they leave behind. We need you to raise your voice against this harmful proposal. 

Oil companies are legally required to clean up their disused wells. If they don’t, those zombie wells continue polluting the air and water around them and taxpayers ultimately pick up the bill. 

Before drilling on public land, companies must put money aside to cover future cleanup costs. But if that amount is set far too low, oil companies can simply walk away from a well and forfeit the money rather than pay the much higher cost of cleaning it up. The Trump administration is now trying to cut those amounts back to levels last seen in the 1960s. This is a deliberate transfer of financial risk from profitable oil companies to the public. 

The country is already littered with 2.1 million zombie wells that contaminate drinking water and pollute the air. The last thing we need is to make it even easier for oil companies to drill, profit, walk away, and leave the taxpayers to pick up the bill.

But there’s a way for you to fight back. Right now, the Department of the Interior is reviewing public comments on this dangerous proposal. We need you to submit your message sharing your strong opposition to this rollback before it’s too late. By keeping up the pressure, you can make a real difference. Industry lobbyists are already making their voices heard, so we must be louder. 

Comments on this bailout for oil companies are only open until August 24, 2026. Submit your comment today.