Gulf Kill

OIL SPILL

May 27, 2010

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Brad Johnson, Zaid Jilani, and Alex Seitz-Wald

Thirty-eight days after BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and killed eleven workers, fifteen to 40 million gallons of toxic crude have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico. Oil from the slick now equals the size of South Carolina and has soiled more than 100 miles of Louisiana's coastline. Fishermen working on the cleanup have "become ill after working long hours near waters fouled with oil and dispersant," reporting "nausea, dizziness, headaches and chest pains." The federal government is "going to bring every resource necessary to put a stop" to the catastrophe, President Obama said yesterday during a visit to a solar panel manufacturing facility in Fremont, CA. "We will not rest until this well is shut, the environment is repaired, and the cleanup is complete." There may be reason for hope on the first element. U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the top federal official overseeing the response, said this morning he is optimistic that the "top kill" -- the latest effort to shut down BP's blown out well -- is working.  Unfortunately, the toxic sludge in Louisiana's fragile wetlands, the slick on the open ocean, and the toxic plumes of dispersed oil underwater are continuing to kill marine wildlife and birds at a terrifying clip. The ongoing investigations into the causes of the disaster are revealing new evidence of decisions to ignore on-site workers and instead take safety risks in order to save costs, and a top BP worker who was aboard the Deepwater Horizon has invoked the Fifth Amendment. Recognizing the national importance of forestalling yet more disasters, Obama today will ban new deepwater wells for six months, cancel exploratory drilling in Alaska, and cancel a "proposed lease sale off the Virginia coast."

IS BP TOO BIG TO CARE?: BP's attitude toward the Gulf catastrophe resembles the shrugs of Wall Street firms who caused the near collapse of the global economy. BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles has expressed his optimism that both his company and the Gulf will "will fully recover," even though Prince William Sound has yet to "fully recover" 21 years after the Exxon Valdez spill. Likewise, BP CEO Tony Hayward -- who received a 40 percent pay raise last year to about $5.8 million -- said he believes the "environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest" because the Gulf of Mexico is a "very big ocean." BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said his company is a "big and important company for the US" and expects that BP will be able to "move on," although its "reputation will be tarnished." Financial analyst Tom Nelson believes BP's stock drop "is a fantastic opportunity to buy a very high quality long-term business on a very cheap rating." Center for American Progress senior fellow Joseph Romm called BP "the Goldman Sachs of big oil" because of its spotty safety record, insistence on voluntary "trust me" self-regulation, and willingness to cut corners to "save a few bucks." The moral hazard created by privatized profit and socialized risk has allowed bankers to cripple our economy and energy companies to destroy our planet. Ten days ago, MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews lashed out at the consequences of "unbridled free enterprise," wondering why the President doesn't "nationalize that industry and get the job done."

RE-EMPOWERING GOVERNMENT:  "[T]he truth is that we have disempowered government and handed vast responsibilities over to a private sector that will never see protecting the public interest as its primary task," Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne worries. In addition to the efforts to stop the leaks, BP controls claims processing, environmental contractors on land and sea, volunteer assistance, access to the disaster site, and data collection. Over the past month, the federal government has let BP block attempts to monitor the gusher, study the undersea plumes, or learn about the dispersants being used. Democratic strategist and Louisiana resident James Carville told CNN on Wednesday that Obama "needs to tell BP 'I'm your daddy, I'm in charge, you're going to do what we say.'" Obama should make it clear that BP is no longer the final decision maker -- about anything," Huffington Post columnist Dan Froomkin writes. "He should also establish that nobody in government is taking anything BP says on face value anymore." The Center for American Progress' Tom Kenworthy and Brad Johnson recommend that the federal government explicitly take command authority away from BP and mobilize the full resources of the government. The Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to bar BP from new federal contracts -- including drilling in federally controlled oil fields -- because of its repeated environmental crimes. The federal government should require BP to use its first quarter 2010 profits -- $5 billion -- to establish the escrow account to pay for the disaster response.

FREEDOM FROM BIG OIL: "Even if you hadn't seen the catastrophe down in the Gulf, the reason that folks are now having to go down a mile deep into the ocean, and then another mile drilling into the ground below, that is because the easy oil fields and oil wells are gone, or they're starting to diminish," Obama said Tuesday. "That tells us we've got to have a long-term energy strategy in this country." Congress and the administration must take further steps to end our dependence on big oil. The administration should beef up federal research and development efforts into how to prevent oil spills and better contain them if they occur. The federal government should establish additional protection for continental shelf areas beyond just the three miles states can control. CAP and environmental organizations advocate establishing a significant oil savings reduction goal and empowering the president to achieve it. Obama and Congress should also adopt measures for cleaner vehicles and fuels, and more investment in transit -- as part of a comprehensive plan to reduce oil use. Congress should cut tax loopholes and other handouts to big oil companies, which would save $45 billion over 10 years -- money that can be spent on investing in a clean energy economy instead. And clean energy legislation that caps the oil and coal pollution that is destroying our atmosphere and oceans is long overdue. "We all know the price we pay as a country," Obama said. "With the increased risks and increased costs, it gives you a sense of where we're going. We're not going got be able to sustain this kind of fossil fuel use. This planet can't sustain it."