Back here I noted that it was Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) blocking the Democrats' attempt to raise the liability cap on damages as a result of oil spills from the laughably-small $75M it is now to a more reasonable $10B.
Today it was James Inhofe, (R-OK), saying
. . .that putting oil companies on the line for unlimited liability would push all but the largest companies out of the offshore drilling business — the same argument he made last week in rejecting the $10 billion cap.In fact, Inhofe said, removing the liability cap could push even the giants of the industry — BP, Shell, Chevron, Exxon-Mobil and ConocoPhillips — out of contention for contracts, leaving only the big nationalized firms (like those in China and Venezuela) to do the drilling.
I think the Senator from Oklahoma is missing the point of the legislation, which is to get cleanups paid for. It's not to protect privately-held oil companies from their competitors.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
Posted by Linkmeister at May 25, 2010 12:24 PM | TrackBack