Sen. Menendez On Efforts To Raise Oil Liability Cap

[TomCADem]

Source: NPR

And lastly, when BP made $5.6 billion in the first three months of this year in profits, I think those companies can sustain a larger liability cap. And it also is a way of disciplining companies to think about what they do, so that we dont have a spill in the first place.

SIEGEL: Senator Menendez, I'd just like you to respond to what the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, said yesterday about this when he was asked about it on "Meet the Press." He said: The danger, of course - Im quoting now, "is if you raise the cap too high there will be no competition in the Gulf, and you will leave all the business to big guys, like BP."

Senator MENENDEZ: Well, you know, at some point there are a lot of smaller companies than BP, but they're not mom and pop companies as we would think of a mom and pop store on Main Street. Several of these independent operators are, you know, $40 billion in net worth. And lastly, the question begs the issue as a public policy, just because we want smaller operators to be able to operate, if they create the same risk would we simply say that the liability should now become that of the public and of all of the Gulf State residents, and of the federal government, because they're smaller?

I think you have to think about what is not just the upside, but you have to think of the downside. And you can't privatize profit but then collectivize risk.


Read more: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126890154

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Great response by Senator Menendez to the so-called anti-bailout Republicans, particularly Mitch McConnell who has recently been opposing efforts to raise the cap on liability resulting from oil spills. Of course, the media has done nothing to point out this Republican hypocrisy.