Tony Hayward opened his testimony in Congress Thursday by apologizing on behalf of BP for the disaster that is 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 gave some wrath on the beleaguered oil business 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 fairly predictable considering the representative’s record.
Tony Hayward just sits while the gusher flows
When Tony Heyward took his lumps, the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico reached someplace around 100 million gallons according to 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 on Tuesday the BP oil leak has somewhere between 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.
Listening to dominated by political posturing
Tony Hayward listened quietly for about 90 minutes as lawmakers made opening statements. Democrats led by California Rep. Henry Waxman, 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 listening to as an opportunity to criticize the Obama administration for the way it handled the BP oil spill. As they used the listening to to score political points with their base, Republicans accused the administration for using the listening to to try desperately to put the oil industry out of business to advance its energy policies.
Joe Barton was ashamed of the BP “shakedown”
Before Tony Hayward could apologize, he received his own apology from Barton (video below). Barton explained he was “ashamed of what happened in 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’re 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’d characterize as a shakedown, a $20 billion shakedown.” Reuters reports 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 criticize the Obama administration is an very 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.
Barton’s shakedown wasn’t a surprise
Barton’s shakedown was a shock to most. But it was reported by the Washington Post 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 people in the House of Representatives as outlined by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Some of these comments included:
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’s 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 an apology 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 a crime. After she was hustled out of the room, Hayward said he was “deeply sorry,” and that the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010 should not have ever happened. He also offered his condolences to the families and friends of the 11 people who died within the explosion of the oil rig that set the disaster in motion. Hayward hasn’t faced 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
