A White House panel probing BP’s massive oil spill called for an overhaul of a regulatory system that was “entirely unprepared” for disaster and outlined stringent, new oversight, a plan sure to face opposition from Republicans reluctant to expand government involvement.
The White House oil spill commission said in its final major report that the US government needs to expand its drilling regulations, as well as set up an independent drilling safety agency.
“None of the major aspects of offshore drilling safety — not the regulatory oversight, not the industry safety standards, not the spill response practices — kept pace with the push into deepwater,” commission co-chair Bill Reilly said.
“In effect, our nation was entirely unprepared for an inevitable disaster,” he said.
However, many of the recommendations would require US congressional approval and Republicans have been critical of extensive new regulations, saying they would further slow the exploratory pace following last year’s drilling moratorium that was imposed in response to the spill.
Republican lawmaker Fred Upton, who heads the US House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee, blasted the commission’s findings, saying they failed to clearly identify the root cause of the “unprecedented disaster.”
“Neither this nor any investigation should be used as political justification for a pre-determined agenda to limit affordable energy options for America,” Upton said in a statement.
Oil companies have voiced concern that onerous new regulations could hamper offshore exploration and drive up oil prices. US Gulf of Mexico oil production fell by 70,000 barrels per day in fourth quarter of last year, with further drops expected this year and in 2012.
However, Reilly said it was time for Congress “to exercise serious oversight” in a regime that has not kept pace with the industry’s push into deeper and deeper waters.
As a first step, he demanded that Congress provide the funding to hire additional government inspectors for drilling operations.
Following the BP accident, the US Interior Department restructured the agency responsible for overseeing drilling and has instituted a raft of new safety rules.
“We have already implemented several of the key reforms the commission has made clear are necessary, and we will use the commission’s report and the findings of other investigations to inform future actions to strengthen safety and oversight,” US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement.
The seven-member commission also pushed for the oil industry to create a self-regulating entity to help enforce standards and called on Congress to raise liability limits on offshore drilling operators.
Modeled on the nuclear industry’s Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, a self-regulatory group would allow offshore drillers to hold their counterparts more accountable, the commission said in its final report.
While not calling for a halt to drilling in the Arctic, the commission said there is need for more study of the intense physical conditions and the Interior Department should ensure that companies have adequate plans and resources to handle a spill there.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was