Wicker Pushes for Answers to Oil Spill and Solutions for Safer Drilling
May 31, 2010
The explosion on the offshore rig, Deepwater Horizon, and the oil leak into the Gulf of Mexico has had far-reaching consequences. It tragically resulted in the loss of eleven lives. We are still uncertain how long the flow of oil will continue. At the time of this writing, the “top kill” procedure was being attempted in an effort to stop the flow of oil with pressure and weight of heavy mud while permanent relief wells are drilled. Whether this is successful or not, the disaster has already polluted our coastal waters, threatened marine life, and places at risk the ecosystems along the Gulf Coast. It has hurt business for those who rely on the Gulf Coast and its waters for their livelihoods. Because this accident occurred at a time that the U.S. is considering expanding domestic energy production, it has also caused some to suggest that off-shore drilling be halted altogether. Most Americans believe this is the wrong response.
Immediately following the disaster, the Department of Interior placed a moratorium on all offshore drilling permits. I was concerned with this sweeping ban on offshore drilling, which prohibited not only deep water drilling but also shallow water operations that have been safely producing natural gas and oil in the Gulf of Mexico for 50 years without major incident. The technology for shallow water drilling is different from deep water rigs, like the Deepwater Horizon, and it carries less risk. There are approximately 57 of these shallow water rigs presently operating in the Gulf of Mexico, and employ at least 5,000 jobs on the Gulf Coast, including in Mississippi. Several of my Gulf Coast colleagues and I sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, urging him to rethink this unnecessary and punishing moratorium and allow our safely operating shallow water rigs to continue producing energy for our nation. We also met directly with Secretary Salazar to convey our concerns over this moratorium. On Thursday, the President announced changes to the current moratorium on offshore drilling including the lift of the ban on shallow water drilling. I am pleased the President recognized the safety record and value of our shallow water drilling industry to our nation.
Lessons Learned
Though the results of the spill are devastating, offshore drilling remains vital to our economy. Domestically produced oil and gas must continue to be a key part of America’s energy portfolio. Rather than implement drastic changes to our energy policy, we must take what we learn from extensive investigations into the accident and apply those lessons to technical and procedural advancements in the oil and gas industry and at the federal level. The Senate Commerce Committee recently held a hearing to probe the federal and private response efforts to the oil spill. Officials from the Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) briefed the committee on cleanup efforts. As a member of the panel, I was also able to ask tough questions of the top executives of BP America and Transocean, two of the key companies responsible. Both companies testified that it is important that efforts be made to understand the leak and to determine how to prevent such accidents in the future. Congress will continue to sift through the testimony and reports to determine the likely cause of this tragedy. Through this process, Congress and our partners in the energy industry will face the critical task of evaluating and strengthening the standards and requirements necessary to ensure that domestic production continues safely.
Making the Oil Companies Pay
Apart from the impact the oil spill may have on our energy policy, much consideration is being given to costs and who should cover them. The responsible parties are liable for 100 percent of cleanup costs. For economic damages, there is currently a cap that limits to $75 million companies’ oil spill liability. Early estimates of the Gulf Coast oil spill place economic damages far beyond that limit. I have cosponsored legislation to raise the liability cap to at least $150 million. However, if a company’s profits in the four quarters preceding the accident exceed $150 million, they would be liable for damages up to that year’s profit level. That means BP’s liability could reach $20 billion, which is twice as much as a $10 billion cap being proposed in a separate Senate bill. Our legislation differentiates between large and nationally-owned oil companies and the smaller operators who would be run out of business by multi-billion dollar damage liabilities. This is important to ensure that competition continues in the oil and gas market, which is essential to keeping energy costs down for consumers.
The American people still overwhelmingly favor offshore drilling – even after the spill. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll revealed that 60 percent of voters continue to support oil and gas exploration off the U.S. coast. Another recent survey showed that half of Americans actually favor an increase in offshore drilling. I believe the enduring support of the public indicates Americans have reached the commonsense conclusion that this accident was an exception to the norm. Something went terribly wrong this time. We must learn the painful lesson, correct the mistakes that were made, and proceed to use offshore oil and gas resources safely for the energy security of our nation. I will continue to press for action to prevent further spilling and for answers to the question of what went wrong. At the same time, I will strongly oppose any effort to deny Americans access to the tremendous amount of energy that lies off our nation’s coasts.
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