Tony Hayward opened his testimony in Congress on Thursday afternoon by apologizing on behalf of BP for the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010. But he then was quickly upstaged by an additional apology from a Republican for the White House “shakedown” of BP for a $20 billion dollar fund to cover damages from the oil spill. Lawmakers vented predictable wrath on the beleaguered oil company executive at the House Energy and Commerce listening to investigating the oil spill. The shakedown apology to Hayward from Texas Republican Joe Barton was also predictable upon examination of the representative’s record.
When gusher flows, Tony Hayward sits
While Tony Heyward took his lumps, the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico reached at least 100 million gallons as outlined by government estimates. The New York Times reports that the oil spill cap BP has been using since June 3 has collected about 15,000 barrels a day. Scientists estimated Tuesday that the BP oil leak ranges from 35,000 barrels to 60,000 barrels a day — up from the flow rate they issued only last week, of 25,000 to 30,000 barrels a day. It continues a pattern that each new estimate of the flow rate has been dramatically higher than the one before.
Political posturing dominates listening to
For 90 minutes, Tony Hayward listened as lawmakers made opening statements. Democrats led by California Rep. Henry Waxman, who is the chairman of the full House Energy and Commerce Committee, harshly criticized BP for the shortcuts it took that lead to the disaster. Republicans used the televised hearing as an opportunity to criticize the Obama administration for the way it handled the BP oil spill. As they used the hearing to score political points with their base, Republicans accused the administration for using the hearing to try desperately to put the oil industry out of business to advance its energy policies.
BP “shakedown” – Joe Barton ashamed
Before Tony Hayward could apologize, he received his own apology from Barton (video below). Barton explained he was “ashamed of what happened within the White House yesterday. I apologize. I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or corporation does anything wrong, they are subjected to such political pressure.” He named it as “a tragedy of the first proportion, that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, a $20 billion shakedown.” It was reported by Reuters that Republicans are seeking to pick up seats from majority Democrats in November’s congressional elections. Using BP’s $20 billion oil spill damage fund to try desperately to criticize the Obama administration is a politically risky stance that is bound to be unpopular within the Gulf region, where out-of-work fishermen are desperate for claims payments to survive economically.
No surprise from Barton’s shakedown
Barton’s shakedown was a shock to most. But the Washington Post reports that for Barton, outrageous statements about energy and climate change are nothing new. Barton is the biggest recipient of oil and gas industry campaign contributions of all the individuals within the House of Representatives as outlined by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Some of his industry-friendly comments include:
Barton on wind energy:
“Wind is God’s way of balancing heat. Wind is the way you shift heat from areas where it is hotter to areas where it’s cooler. That’s what wind is. Wouldn’t it be ironic if in the interest of global warming we mandated massive switches to energy, which is a finite resource, which slows the winds down, which causes the temperature to go up?”Barton on climate change:
“I think that it is inevitable that humanity will adapt to global warming. I also believe the longer we postpone finding ways to do it (adapt) successfully, the more expensive and unpalatable the adjustment will become. Adaptation to shifts in temperature is not that difficult.”
Barton on Co2:
“CO2 is odorless, colorless, tasteless – it is not a threat to human health in terms of being exposed to it. We create it as we talk back and forth. So, and if you go beyond that, on a net basis, there’s ample evidence that warming generically — however it is caused — is a net benefit to mankind.”
Hayward gets his apology in edgewise
Tony Hayward finally got his chance to apologize after a protester, smeared in black, disrupted his testimony by shouting that he should be charged with some kind of a crime. After she was hustled out of the room, Hayward said he was “deeply sorry,” and that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 should not have ever happened. He also offered his condolences to anyone who knew the 11 people who died within the explosion of the oil rig that set the disaster in motion. Hayward has yet to face any questions from a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which recessed after his statement to allow members to vote. But he won’t be expecting any a lot more apologies.
Citations
New York Times
nytimes.com/2010/06/17/us/17spill.html
Reuters
reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65G42D20100617?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
Washington Post
voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/06/joe-bartons-bp-shakedown-comme.html
