By Tom Maertens
Guest Editorial
Mankato Free Press
The Gulf oil leak is something of a litmus test for small-government advocates ... where the rubber meets the road.
Before the BP platform exploded, Republicans were adamant about two things: First, that Washington keep its regulatory hands off the oil industry and, second, that it should license oil drilling off the coasts … all the coasts: East, West, Gulf and Alaska.
Moreover, their anti-regulatory, industry-friendly energy policy, written by Dick Cheney, Enron and Big Oil, sanctioned the practices that led to the disaster. (Disclosure: I wrote part of the nuclear section of the energy report while working in the Bush White House; I had no vote on other sections of the report.)
The “Drill, Baby, Drill” crowd — including the former half-term governor of Alaska — seems to have suffered collective amnesia; they are blaming environmentalists for the disaster and pretending they never advocated offshore drilling while demanding that Obama take ownership of the leak.
For perverse mindlessness, however, Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul wins the prize. He claimed the Obama administration is un-American for putting its boot heel on the throat of BP. So who should stop the leak? Who should clean up?
The expertise and technology for offshore drilling are almost entirely in the hands of private industry. There is no branch of the government that drills, maintains, or caps offshore oil wells. Retired Gen. Colin Powell was asked what the Pentagon might be able to do about the oil spill. He suggested that the military could contribute things like organization and “command and control.” But do we really want somebody in charge who knows nothing about deep offshore drilling?
Some people are apparently proposing that the government take over responsibility for containing and cleaning up the spill because BP is not moving fast enough. But BP’s liability increases with every barrel that leaks into the Gulf. They have a strong motivation to move as fast as possible.
If the American people demand that the U.S. Government “do something” loudly enough, they are likely to get their wish. Congress will pass legislation designating some new or existing agency to deal with future blowouts, and fund that agency, which will then staff up, study the problem, relearn what the oil industry already knows, and then begin planning and buying the oil industry’s equipment. Is that really what we want?
There is no doubt that many Americans consider the government the insurer of last resort — and sometimes, first resort — people who believe the government should save them when disaster occurs, or even, when the free market fails. This includes many “small-government conservatives” who are only skeptical of government in good times but are quick to demand government assistance when disaster strikes.
It is safe to assume that some of the Gulf coasters who are presently clamoring for government assistance fit that description. A major problem in this case is BP’s abysmal safety and environmental record, by far the worst of any major oil company. The Center for Public Integrity reports that, in the last three years, BP accounted for “97 percent of all flagrant violations found in the refining industry by government safety inspectors” — including 760 citations for “egregious, willful” violations. ProPublica has a list of BP’s past problems.
BP CEO Tony Hayward has asserted that the cleanup will cost $2-3 billion, but Credit Suisse estimates the cleanup could cost $23 billion and fishermen’s claims could push the total cost to $40 billion. Lawsuits could double even those costs.
The New York Times has reported that legal minds are already thinking about how BP can weasel out of its obligations by declaring bankruptcy and spinning off the Gulf cleanup responsibility to a separate entity, undoubtedly one with limited resources. The Coast Guard, with its marginal cleanup resources, and the taxpayers would then be left holding the bag.
Realistically, therefore, the president has little ability to change the situation in the Gulf. What he can do is sympathize with the victims and express outrage at BP, topics that political pundits are spilling barrels of ink over. Most important of all, he must keep the government’s heel on the throat of BP to meet its obligations.
Longer term, we can expect legislation imposing stricter controls on offshore drilling. Any energy legislation will likely be paired with some sort of carbon tax and perhaps more funding for green and nuclear energy. Such measures will help to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, but will be small consolation for the people on the Gulf coast.
Tom Maertens is part of a Mankato Free Press team of readers asked to write opinion articles. He served in Washington and around the world for the U.S. government as a political, military, scientific and economic analyst, a naval officer and a Peace Corps volunteer. He has worked in the White House and the U.S. Senate for both Republicans and Democrats, and considers himself a political centrist. He is the senior editor of Vox Verax.
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