Holt says 'Big Oil' should be liable
"Big Oil" should be responsible for paying up to $10 billion for environmental and economic damages after spills, said U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell Township) in testimony yesterday in Washington before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Holt is the prime sponsor of legislation that would raise the cap on liability from the current $75 million, which companies such as British Petroleum (BP) would be held accountable for covering.
In accordance with environmental law precedent, the measure could be made retroactive to apply to the recent Deepwater Horizon spill, which continues to wreak havoc in the Gulf of Mexico.
"BP should be liable for every last cent of the natural resource and economic damage it caused -- not the small-business owner, nor the restaurateur, not the vacation home renter, not the fishermen, not the American taxpayer," Holt said during his testimony.
In May, Holt introduced his "Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act," which calls for implementing a $10 billion cap on the fiscal responsibility of an oil company after a spill. Such costs would not include cleanup costs, which companies are already required to cover. Rather, the economic responsibility would apply to lost business and local tax revenues, as well as damages to natural resources.
The current $75 million cap for corporate liability was established by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 in response to the Exxon Valdez spill. Holt characterized that figure as "laughable" in relation to the magnitude of the current spill, noting that the same cap has been in effect for nearly two decades.
"Revisiting the liability issue is long overdue," he said. "The American people clearly want to see Congress holding BP accountable, and it is fair for them to ask why Congress, nearly seven weeks later, is only now getting around to acting."
