Senator LeMieux Urges No Blame For BP
Yesterday, George LeMeiux, Florida’s Republican U.S. Senator, aptly described the terrible impact that the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling operation has already had on the Gulf of Mexico. “We are facing an environmental and economic disaster of epic proportions,” he said.
Given that disaster of epic proportions, what action has Senator LeMieux taken? He hasn’t written any legislation to help our nation cope with the Deepwater Horizon disaster, or to ensure that another Deepwater Horizon won’t take place. Unlike his senior colleague, Bill Nelson, Senator LeMieux has not developed any plan to block unsafe offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Today, LeMieux said, “Right now is not the time to fault the administration, or BP for what they could have or should have done.” Why is now not the time to fault BP? What benefit can be found from allowing BP to avoid responsibility?
Senator LeMieux’s idea of accountability for BP turns out to be rather generous. LeMieux reports today that he is “encouraged” by a BP decision to establish a 100 million dollar grant program for four Gulf states that are likely to suffer from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. However, the disaster is estimated to cost at least 13 billion dollars. 100 million dollars isn’t even a drop in the bucket. LeMieux seems more interested in protecting BP than protecting Florida’s shores.
House Cleaning:
Use your clout to get the effing criminals in the SEC and the MMS and any other agency that we pay with our money, fired and prosecuted. We are blaming the wrong people. A for profit company will take any shortcut allowed to increase their profits…that’s the American way. Our politicians are grandstanding like they aren’t involved. Right now I’ll bet BP, Deepwater Horizon and Haliburton are lamenting the fact that our agencys did not hold their feet to the fire. This is gonna cost the companies much more than adhering to regulations that were NOT put in place. Fire the bastards and proscute them to the hilt.