BP.......Bought themselves some Congresspeople!
Twenty two years ago, a gas leak on an American platform off Britain's Coast caused the world's worst offshore disaster. One hundred and sixty seven workers on the Piper Alpha rig died in the fire. Much tougher regulation ensued. Malcolm Webb speaks for British offshore operators. He says Piper Alpha...
MALCOLM WEBB: ..took us into an entirely different direction as regards safety and the management of our resources in the offshore.
BEARD: Britain split up licensing of operators from safety monitoring, unlike in the U.S. And another critical difference. No drilling operator ever gets a license here now without a meticulous safety assessment showing.
WEBB: That he is operating that installation so as to reduce to the lowest extent practicable the risks to human life and to the environment through oil spill.
BEARD: BP admits it never performed assessments on any of its U.S. wells because the U.S. government never required that.
In fact, it was much cheaper for B.P. and the oil industry in general to just buy off conservative politicians-- much cheaper. Still sitting in the Senate are 10 members-- all conservatives, of course-- who have taken over half a million dollars in thinly veiled direct bribes from Big Oil and all have worked to make sure BP would never be required to undergo the expensive regulatory regime they are forced to endure back in their home country. These ten should all be in prison:
John McCain (R-AZ)- $2,677,524
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)- $2,137,225
John Cornyn (R-TX)- $1,652,150
Jim Inhofe (R-OK)- $1,231,523
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)- $862,561
David Vitter (R-LA)- $791,335
Mary Landrieu (D-LA)- $758,744
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)- $601,625
John Thune (R-SD)- $577,662
Arlen Specter (R/D-PA)- $566,028
And there are 10 House members, again all conservatives, in the same cozy little club: handmaidens for Big Oil who have taken at least half a million dollars each from Big Oil executives and lobbyists:
Joe Barton (R-TX)- $1,458,530
Don Young (R-AK)- $981,263
Mike Conaway (R-TX)- $652,718
Pete Sessions (R-TX)- $645,864
Todd Tiahrt (R-KS)- $628,073
Kay Granger (R-TX)- $612,807
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)- $578,210
Roy Blunt (R-MO)- $532,898
Ralph Hall (R-TX)- $530,468
John Sullivan (R-OK)- $529,950
They also belong in prison-- along with the BP executive and lobbyists. But that's not going to happen... not ever. Even now, as we mentioned earlier today, Republican conservatives, each with financial connections to Big Oil, are urging that oil companies be allowed to drill in the Great Lakes, the source of drinking water for 40 million Americans. The U.S. learned nothing from this, although England did
Google Piper Alpha.....
MALCOLM WEBB: ..took us into an entirely different direction as regards safety and the management of our resources in the offshore.
BEARD: Britain split up licensing of operators from safety monitoring, unlike in the U.S. And another critical difference. No drilling operator ever gets a license here now without a meticulous safety assessment showing.
WEBB: That he is operating that installation so as to reduce to the lowest extent practicable the risks to human life and to the environment through oil spill.
BEARD: BP admits it never performed assessments on any of its U.S. wells because the U.S. government never required that.
In fact, it was much cheaper for B.P. and the oil industry in general to just buy off conservative politicians-- much cheaper. Still sitting in the Senate are 10 members-- all conservatives, of course-- who have taken over half a million dollars in thinly veiled direct bribes from Big Oil and all have worked to make sure BP would never be required to undergo the expensive regulatory regime they are forced to endure back in their home country. These ten should all be in prison:
John McCain (R-AZ)- $2,677,524
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)- $2,137,225
John Cornyn (R-TX)- $1,652,150
Jim Inhofe (R-OK)- $1,231,523
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)- $862,561
David Vitter (R-LA)- $791,335
Mary Landrieu (D-LA)- $758,744
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)- $601,625
John Thune (R-SD)- $577,662
Arlen Specter (R/D-PA)- $566,028
And there are 10 House members, again all conservatives, in the same cozy little club: handmaidens for Big Oil who have taken at least half a million dollars each from Big Oil executives and lobbyists:
Joe Barton (R-TX)- $1,458,530
Don Young (R-AK)- $981,263
Mike Conaway (R-TX)- $652,718
Pete Sessions (R-TX)- $645,864
Todd Tiahrt (R-KS)- $628,073
Kay Granger (R-TX)- $612,807
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)- $578,210
Roy Blunt (R-MO)- $532,898
Ralph Hall (R-TX)- $530,468
John Sullivan (R-OK)- $529,950
They also belong in prison-- along with the BP executive and lobbyists. But that's not going to happen... not ever. Even now, as we mentioned earlier today, Republican conservatives, each with financial connections to Big Oil, are urging that oil companies be allowed to drill in the Great Lakes, the source of drinking water for 40 million Americans. The U.S. learned nothing from this, although England did
Google Piper Alpha.....