Source: Al Jazeera
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, killing 11 workers. Oil flowed unabated for three months – spilling a total of 4.9 million barrels of it into the ocean.
| “Right now there’s a ‘drill baby drill’ mentality in the US Congress and even in the Obama administration, which makes anyone reluctant to impose any type of control.“- Greg Palast, an investigative reporter |
In January 2011, a White House oil spill commission released its final report on the causes of the disaster. They blamed BP and its partners for making a series of cost-cutting decisions, and the lack of a system to ensure drill well safety. It made a number of recommendations to improve safety and oversight.
Now members of the presidential panel that investigated the rig explosion and spill are criticising Congress for refusing to act on any of its recommendations – accusing it of being hostile to new regulation. Continue reading
