It's painfully clear the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could dwarf any environmental disaster in our nation's history. This horrific tragedy has claimed 11 lives and contaminated Gulf waters with millions of gallons of oil. It is still is belching thousands of barrels into the water every day and the oil has now reached the shores of Louisiana. It's impacting the livelihoods of millions in the Gulf Coast states and threatens more. As bad as things are - and may yet become - this disaster will be even more tragic if we fail to learn from it.
The first steps, of course, are to stop the leaks, contain the spill, and attend to the devastating aftermath on the people and their environment. The Obama Administration deserves high marks for its swift response from day one to the BP disaster. It mobilized the government's resources to minimize the harm on the health, economy, and environment of the Gulf Coast. And, as President Obama has made abundantly clear, BP will be held accountable for the costs associated with this tragic event.
But now is also the time to ensure complete scrutiny of this horrible environmental disaster by putting into place an independent, nonpartisan commission to determine exactly what went wrong and to make recommendations to keep it from happening again. That's why I recently introduced The BP Deepwater Horizon Inquiry Commission Act (HR 5241), which would establish a fifteen member panel to conduct a focused investigation into the matter.
Appointed by the President, with input from Congress, the Commission would be comprised of experts in energy production, environmental protection and other relevant fields, as well as officials from the Gulf Coast. It would investigate the cause, response and impacts of the BP disaster, and it would make recommendations on our ability to evaluate and address the risks of offshore drilling. The Commission would also investigate BP and other private companies involved with the spill, as well as the performance of federal and state agencies responsible for oversight of offshore drilling. Finally, the Commission would assess the consequences of the spill and possible future incidents to sensitive and ecologically important areas, as well as the economic impacts to coastal communities.
This panel would serve as an important long-term addition to the Administration's excellent short-term efforts to investigate and respond to the oil spill. Similar commissions have been convened in the past to investigate disasters, including the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island and the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion. Those panels provided valuable insight and important recommendations regarding nuclear issues and space policy. The same result should be expected from a commission to investigate the BP oil spill. And given the recent expansion of deep water drilling and calls for more of it we need to get a better handle on the potentials dangers that lurk in such actions.
I have lived in Santa Barbara since 1966 and saw firsthand the devastating consequences of the blowout on Platform A just a few miles off our coast. That spill dumped millions of gallons of crude oil into the Santa Barbara Channel, killed untold amounts of wildlife and polluted our beaches for years. But is also galvanized a burgeoning environmental movement and spurred the first Earth Day.
Hopefully, an independent commission digging into this current disaster can produce something positive out of this very tragic situation.
The average guy recognizes that this is a crisis? Why doesn't the President? If he does should he not declare a state of emergency? Should he not use his Executive Emergency Powers to seize BP, make BP's personnel do the real work, sequester BP's bank accounts worldwide and direct the nations energies to the mitigation of the crisis by eliminating the major source of crisis, the fossil fuel industry?
How many coal mine cave-ins will we need? How many methane seeps into aquifiers can we stand? The fossil fuel industry cannot be controlled or defined, or managed by the recommendations of a Commission. Only the President can make them do the right thing under the above scenario.
Clearly then, America needs to recognize that enormous pressure will need to be brought to bear on the President, Congress and elected officials in all political jurisdictions. A tall order. It falls into the category of revolution, even anarchy.
I fear, in the absence of very strong Presidential leadership we will need another BP Oil Extinction to direct our resources to a renewable energy world, if there’s much left by then.
Yes, let’s call it "The BP Oil Extinction"
Would that be sort of like...finding an independent oil and gas lawyer? One who knows the ins and outs of the business but isn't beholden to the big oil boys for future employment?
Anybody ever hear of one? I haven't.
What to do? You have to do something, the public is demanding it. Ah! Let's appoint a commission.That way it looks like something is being done. By the time the commission issues it's report, everyone will have forgotten the problem, so, as with every commission, it's report if filed right next to the thousands of other forgotten commission reports.
A commission is Congresses way to dodge a bullet when constituents demand you do something while your financial backers demand you do nothing. Commissions come and go.They issue reports no one reads, solving nonexistent problems with a useless commission. Iy keeps the Serf's happy.
Appointed by this President and this Congress.
Independent!!!
The biggest receivers of BP money by a long way.
Give me a break.
Nothing changes but time.
How about we put the teeth back into OSHA and change the mission of the regulatory team which, today, just verifies oil volumes for taxation.
While we're at it, just in case one of your aides actually reads this -- Your BETTER move is to ask why we tax oil removal so lightly. We need the cash and taxing oil wells (a) plays better in public than a gas tax and (b) actually makes sense, because these companies are taking something which we, the US people, own at a bargain price.
Make. Them. Pay.
Why do the rights of the mineral extractor ALWAYS supersede every other right? Including rights of the
a) landowner under whose property the minerals are located,
b) the public who stands to lose when their common assets are destroyed or damaged
c) the owner of the rights who is often cheated every way to Sunday unless they are able to hire a bigtime oil/gas lawyer and pursue their issue in court?
Why do mineral extraction rights trump the federal Endangered Species Act?
The Lacy Act?
The Clean Water Act?
Extreme proposals make NO sense. They have unintended consequences.
Focus your ire on the big oil companies -- they block every single attempt to create any alternative with their money while putting ads on TV to make you think they're responsible.
And it works.
solar wind and wast bio flues can supply all the world energy several time over.
in fact, ONLY solar wind and bio fuels can solve our energy problems forever.
"...the Minerals Management Service, the Interior Department agency charged both with regulating the oil industry and with collecting royalties from it, never took steps to comprehensively address the issue, relying instead on industry assurances that they were on top of the problem, a review of documents shows."
The oil industry has spent record amounts of money protecting its interests and making sure it retains the power of "self regulation." These companies that spend the most on lobbying the federal government also tend to be those that give the most to politicians for their campaigns.
Although Repubs have traditionally favored moves to deregulate, Dems also accept large campaign contributions. Therefore, this problem reaches far beyond political ideology.
Like that pipe in the gulf, something is inherently broken with our system.
but we also need a commission to look into every nook and cranny of this event and determine all the things that went wrong so they can be targeted and corrected ~ and blame placed, and fines levied.