One year after the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, the oil is not gone. You may not see it, but it's there. Unfortunately it's not going anywhere, and it's likely that offshore drilling in the Gulf Of Mexico will be "business as usual" again soon.
On Tuesday Florida Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida would not be joining the other Gulf states in a lawsuit against Transocean. His latest response when asked why was "“It’s not in our best interest to be involved in somebody else’s litigation.”
Someone else's litigation? It's someone else's litigation because Rick Scott, on behalf of Florida, said no thanks. Apparently in Scott's mind Florida was just "tragedy adjacent?" That makes about as much sense as Scott taking credit for last week's drop in unemployment numbers in Florida, merely because he happened to be in the state at the time.
Unfortunately it isn't just Rick Scott, with his just trust me approach to oil companies, that's making things easier for them. The republican party is naturally doing their part to lend them a hand and grease the wheels.
BP's PAC is back in business and making contributions as if the oil "spill" and the deaths of 11 crew members never happened, and (spoiler alert!) for the most part, the GOP is still big oil's BFF.
In March, BP's PAC cut checks primarily for Republican House leaders and Republican Party committees. These include:
- Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), who received $1,000, is the influential chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee
- House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who received a $5,000 contribution from the BP PAC, is perhaps the most influential Republican on Capitol Hill because of his capacity as House speaker
- Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), also a beneficiary of $5,000, is the House Majority Whip
- Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) received $5,000. Upton is the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and received more than $100,000 in contributions from the oil and gas industry during the 2010 election cycle
- Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) is the sole Democrat to receive BP PAC money this quarter. His contribution totaled $3,000. Visclosky is a member of the Committee on Appropriations and is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
On March 1, BP's PAC also doled out $5,000 to both the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The Center for Responsive Politics reports that BP's usual donation amounts, not surprisingly, dropped in 2010 right after the oil spill and stayed that way until March.
But wait, there's more!
Just when you thought the worst thing the GOP did since winning control of the House was making arguably the most mathematically challenged member they could find the House Budget Committee Chair, you were wrong.
Not only does Paul Ryan want to virtually destroy Medicare as we know it, and make those Bush tax cuts bigger, or permanent, with the money he'll save courtesy of older Americans, he wants to extend a large chunk of them to some of Bush's favorite recipients. As much as the news media wanted you to believe that Ryan's budget plan was "bold" and exciting, it was really just recycled. It seems the GOP doesn't frown on "green" policies as long as they involve recycling money.
From the Center For American Progress:
House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) proposed FY 2012 budget resolution is a backward-looking plan that would benefit big oil companies at the expense of middle-class Americans. It retains $40 billion in Big Oil tax loopholes while completely eliminating investments in the clean energy technologies of the future that are essential for long-term economic growth.
This budget would lock Americans into paying high, volatile energy prices. It would ensure that millions of clean energy jobs are created oversees–not here in the United States. It is a path backward to Bush-Cheney Big Oil energy policies that cost jobs and harm American competitiveness. In short, the Ryan plan ensures that we lose the high-stakes competition for the $2 trillion worldwide clean tech market.
Ryan claims in an April 4 Wall Street Journal op-ed that his plan “rolls back expensive handouts for uncompetitive sources of energy, calling instead for a free and open marketplace for energy development, innovation and exploration.” This is false. Ryan’s proposal actually violates his assertion in two ways. It maintains wasteful subsidies for Big Oil, while cutting valuable investments in the clean energy technologies of the future.
The above just scratches the surface of the nightmares in Paul Ryan's budget plan as it pertains to energy policy, so I would encourage you to read the entire article. It's not just oil drilling, and it's not just Florida and the Gulf. But Rick Scott, Paul Ryan and the GOP among others, hope that we'll turn a blind eye, buy what they're selling us, and "just trust them."
The oil is far from gone, and when the oil companies like BP say "We're bringing oil to American shores" they mean it.
They're also getting plenty of help from their friends.
