It’s interesting to compare how the governors of two of our largest states are reacting to the massive BP oil spill geyser in the Gulf of Mexico. First there’s California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger who has decided he’s no longer going to support expanding offshore drilling. From Alan Colmes’ Liberaland:
“You turn on the television and see this enormous disaster, you say to yourself, ‘Why would we want to take on that kind of risk?’” he said at a news conference near Sacramento.
Then there’s Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s comment Monday at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event where he said the catastrophe may very well have been divine intervention. Perry said it would be wrong to overreact and do something foolish like shut down drilling in the Gulf. From Liberaland:
“From time to time there are going to be things that occur that are acts of God that cannot be prevented,” Perry said.
So, don’t blame BP for its horrible safety and environmental record.
Meanwhile, the facts that are emerging show that BP America’s bungled response to the spill may just add to the company’s growing liability. The New York Times said some of the blame also has to fall on the federal government for its over reliance on oil companies to cleanup major spills. The NYT story quotes Public Citizen’s Tyson Slocum:
“Here you have the company that is responsible for the accident leading the response to the crisis,” said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program. “There is a problem here, and the consequence is clear.”
