A Sea in Flames - Carl Safina [81]
While the president may have been walking a fine line, at least one member of Congress was blocking the intersection. Republican congressman Joe Barton of the great oiligarchy of Texas rails that Obama acted illegally, and—during a congressional hearing—Barton apologizes to BP executives for our president’s “shakedown” of their company. That rumbling is the sound of jaws dropping across America. Even though Barton had reportedly gotten $1.5 million in campaign donations from oil companies, his outburst is bizarre enough to quote at length: “I am ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday, that a private corporation would be subject to what I would characterize as a shakedown,” said Barton. The fund, he said, “amounts to a $20 billion slush fund that is unprecedented in our nation’s history” and “sets a terrible precedent for the future.” He continued, “I apologize … I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong it is subject to political pressure that amounts to a shakedown.” Keep in mind, this guy was in charge of the Energy and Commerce Committee before the Democrats won the House majority in 2006. And as the political pendulum swings, he’ll likely be the chairman again. One thing we agree on: I don’t want him to live in this country, either.
On June 17, a New York Times editorial opines that BP’s CEO, Tony Hayward, has just given Congress “a mind-bogglingly vapid performance.” Congressmen Waxman, Stupak, and others spent hours trying to pry answers out of Hayward about what went wrong. Mostly, he deflected and sidestepped the grilling and frustrated the congressmen and the American public. “I was not part of that decision-making process” was his frequent answer to questions. But fair enough; that’s true. To Texas Republican congressman Michael Burgess, who was taken aback by the idea that Hayward had no prior knowledge of this well, Hayward answered, “With respect, sir, we drill hundreds of wells a year around the world.” To which Burgess shot back: “That’s what’s scaring me now.” During the seven-hour hearing, something like 735,000 gallons of oil leaked into the Gulf.
Rather to its credit, I grudgingly admit, BP releases $25 million of a pledged half billion dollars over ten years to support several universities’ research into the effects of the blowout. To make recommendations on which institutions will receive funds, BP appoints an expert panel chaired by environmental microbiologist Rita Colwell, who formerly headed the National Science Foundation and is now a distinguished professor at Johns Hopkins University. Sounding so refreshingly out of character that the cynic in me has trouble figuring out BP’s motivation, BP CEO Tony Hayward says in a press release, “It is vitally important that research start immediately into the oil and dispersant’s impact, and that the findings are shared fully and openly. We support the independence of these institutions and projects, and hope that the funding will have a significant positive effect on scientists’ understanding of the impact of the spill.”
So, summing: BP has agreed to pay $20 billion, pledged $500 million for a ten-year research program to study the blowout’s lasting effects, agreed to contribute $100 million to support rig workers idled by the administration’s deepwater drilling moratorium, and paid over $50 million to promote Gulf tourism.
And yet, doesn’t it always seem that no good deed goes unpunished? The House is lining up to pass a drilling overhaul bill that, inter alia, would bar any company from drilling on the outer continental shelf if: more than ten fatalities had occurred at its offshore or onshore facilities or if, in the last seven years, it’s paid fines of $10 million or more