Congress Pretends It Had Nothing To Do With Gulf Oil Spill
CNN describes Bart Stupak talking about how furious members of Congress are at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. “”Members are angry. Members are frustrated,” Stupak says, and warns that U.S. Representatives want to punish the CEO of BP. They’re going to take his hide off, as they should.”
Behind this kind of bravado, there ought to be a guilty conscience. Back in September, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to radically expand offshore drilling, with only a thin facade of regulation of the corrupt industry. Bart Stupak, along with most other House Democrats, voted in favor of the offshore drilling expansion. Republicans who opposed the legislation only did so because they wanted even more offshore drilling, and wanted to limit the liability of oil companies for damage related to oil spills.
In 2009, a huge oil spill resulting from a blowout very similar to the Deepwater Horizon took place in the Timor Sea north of Australia. That oil spill went on for 74 days without being contained. It should have been a stark warning to Congress of the dangers of offshore drilling along America’s shores. There should have been multiple hearings by different committees in the House of Representatives, including Bart Stupak’s House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Those hearings could have uncovered the unsafe drilling practices and corrupt dealings that made the Deepwater Horizon oil spill possible.
The House of Representatives had the opportunity last year to prevent the Gulf Oil spill calamity, but it did nothing.
Now, Congress is calling for CEO Tony Hayward’s hide? Go ahead and blame BP. That company has wrecked a huge region of the USA with its sloppy offshore drilling practices. But, after members of Congress go after Hayward, they ought to rip off their own hides too.
