It looks like the Gulf isn't the only thing that is a mess after the massive oil spill on April 20, 2010. The already suffering economy could also be effected by it. Many politicians are now saying they are against off-shore drilling, including California Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar, who had recently been for it. Shutting down drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would have serious negative impacts on our economy. Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar agrees, and has this to say: "For us to turn off those spiggots would have a very, very huge impact on America's economy right now. This is an industry that can operate safely. There has been a tragic accident here and we need to learn the lessons from it, and we will not move forward with any type of activity on offshore oil and gas drilling that isn't going to have safety first."
New Jersey Senators Bob Menendez and Frank Lautenberg and Florida Senator Bill Nelson also agree that this spill could be detrimental to our economy, and have proposed new legislation designed to make oil companies pay more for the cleanup and the unavoidable economic damages. The present law only requires the oil company to pay for all cost associated with cleaning up a spill, but has a $75 million cap on economic damages caused. The new legislation, the "Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act," would raise that cap to $10 billion, eliminate the $1 billion cap on claims against the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, and eliminate the $500 million cap on damages to natural resources. I personally agree completely with Senator Menendez, who says that "If you spill it, you should have to clean it up....There is no such thing as a 'Too Big to Spill' oil well, which is why we need this legislation in place." That seems like pretty simple logic to me. Although some would say this is a "knee-jerk reaction," I feel that it fits the so-called crime. BP needs to be held responsibe...not our fragile economy.
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