Make BP pay royalties on spilled oil and invest them in clean energy
When explosion and fire ripped through the Deepwater Horizon, the first priority was saving the lives of the crew. Sadly, for eleven workers, it was too late.
Then came the challenge of sealing the well with the blowout preventer, a mile below the surface. As we now know all too well, that effort was a complete failure.
Next there was a massive effort to contain the oil before it reached the fragile coastal ecosystem. But this week the first images of dead pelicans and oil coated marshes began to appear.
What comes next will be the assessment of the overwhelming damage to the Gulf Coast economy and environment and the long process of repairing that damage. The size of this spill is almost incomprehensible &emdash; reports of the damage have only just begun. And despite all the rhetoric we've heard, I don't think anyone is really convinced that every last fishing family will be made whole and every wetland returned to its pre-spill condition any time soon.
Throughout all this, the public outrage has been palpable--in Washington, among the pundits and talking heads, in my own home state of Maine, and truly everywhere in the country. And while politician after politician has been clamoring to be the loudest voice shouting "make BP pay" it's been a challenge to find a clearly articulated progressive way forward--for the Gulf, or our entire nation.
Our response to this disaster--as Americans and progressives--will affect the economic and environmental health of our country and our planet for the rest of our lives. To help the Gulf recover, and to use this disaster to move our nation towards a renewable energy future, I propose that:
With the possible exception of Senate candidate Rand Paul, it's hard to imagine there is anyone in this country who doesn't think that BP should be made to pay--and pay dearly--for the damage they've done. Not only do we need to hold BP accountable, but we should also throw the book at them for every civil and criminal penalty that applies. But we also should look beyond reparation and retribution and use this crisis as an opportunity to move this country down the path to a clean energy future, and BP should help us get there.
Oil companies pay royalties on oil they sell. But the fact that millions of gallons of oil from the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf will never make it to market shouldn't matter. BP should pay royalties on every drop that comes out of that well--whether or not they capture and sell it and whether or not they are proven to be negligent in the spill. By drilling quickly and ignoring what sound to be the warning signs of a blow out, BP caused massive amounts of oil to be spilled and wasted, and they should pay the same royalties on that oil, just as if they sold it.
Once we collect those royalties, we should put them to work helping developers of offshore clean energy to get their projects approved and permitted. For too long the system has been biased in favor of oil and gas developers: sweetheart lease deals, generous subsidies and a regulatory process so slanted in favor of Big Oil that often permit reviews are simply waived.
Incredibly, oil and gas companies don't have to pay certain environmental costs that amount to small change to them, while an offshore wind project start-up is faced with fees that could mean the difference between building a wind farm and packing up and going home. One way to level the playing field is to put the millions of dollars in royalties I believe BP owes on the spilled oil into a special fund to help cover those environmental permitting fees for ocean-based clean energy projects.
There is an incredible renewable energy resource off both coasts of this country--wind and tidal energy that can power our economy, create good paying jobs and reduce greenhouse gas pollution. It's time for us to start using it and if big oil companies like BP make that transition a little easier, then there is some justice in the world.
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree represents Maine's 1st District and is Vice Co-Chair of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition
Follow Rep. Chellie Pingree on Twitter: www.twitter.com/chelliepingree
Rev. Chuck Freeman: Hearing the Prophetic Call in the Gulf Oil Disaster
In the way we conceptualize recovery from addiction, we acknowledge the truth of passages like Jeremiah 8:8-12: the addict has to "hit rock bottom" before he can muster the humility and fortitude to move toward the light.
If BP were a person it would likely be convicted of criminal negligence, and given a criminal sentence as well as responsibility for civil damages. A criminal negligence charge would destroy the life of a human offender, removing freedom to earn money, to conduct business, to communicate freely, let alone walk around as a free person. Why should we accept less punishment for BP, with the depth of their negligence, the coercion of our regulatory system, and horror of its result?
The way to end corporations' oligarchy, to stop their control of politics and manipulation of government and commerce is to break them up or end their ability to operate in the US. The demand for oil and the economy that it creates do not depend on BP. Other businesses will quickly rise to fill the void they will leave. Corporations exist at the sufferance of our government, and for the good of all citizens. When they do wrong they must be held to a standard that is matched to their ability to harm our commerce, our environment, and our society. BP should be forced our of business and heavily penalized even if it takes an act of Congress to do it.
Sure, research is good and implementation is better.... Why can't the government create a JFK like
"Put a Man on the Moon in a Decade" incentive and Do the same with Renewables like, Deep Sea Wind and PhotoVoltaics both large and home based, and even simple HotWater Solar collectors... etc... Yes, like the ones on the White house 35 years ago 1976 (Jimmy Carter). No more stalling.... we need energy tax incentives so we can get to a tiny carbon footprint ASAP. Thanks!
you mean: the billions.
Damage awards for civil lawsuits should be punative- strong punishment for illegal or negligent actions. To be effective they have to be big by the offender's standards. Take five years profits, then see what real economic and environmental damage has ensued, and fine them again.
Better yet, revoke their right to do business in the US.
Bad News Obama and BP still in charge of the worlds greatest environmental disaster! Ugh
This whole thing is a contrived cable television controversy. Another thing for Fox to rant about. And people like Carville to show that they are not partisan gun slingers who won't go for their own. Then once a theme has been sounded, it becomes conventional wisdom, and it is impossible for the truth ever again to surface.
The truth of the matter is that Obama has been hammering away at BP since the beginning, Massey, and insurance companies. Regarding the first two, the Obama DOJ has criminal probes going on:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/28/nation/la-na-oil-spill-investigation-20100529
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-14/massey-s-upper-big-branch-mine-under-criminal-probe-u-s-says.html
And on health care, the sheriff has been in town too.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63M5D420100423
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/demons-and-demonization/
said something about BP made a promise......
Really?
So , in the case that down the line a BP official is found guilty of criminally negligent homicide , should not the inverse be true? That is , the collective (BP) cannot claim that it was an individual within the corporation who broke the law - rather , all the individuals within the collective are equally guilty?
Deflect as you will, this rage will not be distracted, dissuaded, or discarded because a few poor ducks get soaked in oil. If anything, we should be enraged not only over Obama’s arrogant condescension, but over the federal regulations that precluded protecting the coast with artificial barrier islands and other state and local efforts to avert this disaster while Obama fiddled and went on vacation.
This incident serves only one useful purpose. It now provides a final judgment on Obama as the incompetent he has proven to be.
got you so wound up you left the human race?
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The Oil of the earth. In time the earth will absorb and distribute it. The small amount of sea and bird life that will be lost is meaningless in the scope of things. We live in an age that agonizes over every dirty duck stuck muck. It's sad, and caring is human, but in the end oil is still required. There are risks associated with the production and transport. In time accidents will happen. Its the cost of our function. In time perhaps that will change in time.
BP is a company that is responsible for taking all possible measure to ensure that the transport and production is as safe as possible.
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Make BP the villain if it makes us feel justified for our consumption of oil. It will not change the fact that oil is part of current human. As long as we learn form our failings and attempt to correct shortcomings, then we are being as responsible as can be expected. Any expectation over that is purely academic back-n-fourth. Nothing more.
BP made themselves the villain. They needed no outside assistance.
"The Oil of the earth. In time the earth will absorb and distribute it. The small amount of sea and bird life that will be lost is meaningless in the scope of things."
You don't understand a thing about biodiversity do you? And the "In time the earth will absorb and distribute it" is absolute rubbish. The oil will permeate every single living thing it touches in that area and kill it. The oil and the disspersants that BP are using won't play favorites or look over any animal that swims through it. Period. The area will be dead. And for biodiversity to be gotten back in that area there would more than likely need to be no fishing or human action in that are for over 40 years. What of the livelihoods of the people that live in that area? Or are you okay with the sentiment of "Those filthy Cajuns just need to fend for themselves?"