Whatever the result of BP’s on-going effort to slow or stop the catastrophic oil spill that threatens environmental and economic disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and along its shores, the incident exposes major problems in the regulation and management of offshore energy drilling. President Barack Obama touched on many of them in a speech to the nation on Friday. His observations are worth noting.
The president decried the “cozy relationship” between the oil industry and the federal agency that allows them to drill. Though the problem is a long-standing one, he admitted that it continued into his administration.
Currently, the president said, permits often are issued “on little more than assurances of safety from the oil companies. That cannot and will not happen any more.” He pledged to end such ties. It’s a promise he should honor..
Mr. Obama already has put in motion changes to tighten regulation of offshore drilling. He’s announced there would be tougher environmental reviews before permits are issued. That’s a fine first step, but more is needed.
Additional legislation to protect rig workers — 11 were killed in the explosion that led to the current spill — and to assure the public that emergency procedures to prevent such blowouts are operational also are required. Congress will have to do its part to help provide such assurances. There might be some reluctance to do so by members long beholden to well-heeled oil industry lobbyists, but such intransigence can be overcome.
Constituents understandably outraged by the spill and its aftermath can make it clear to their representatives that they expect action to correct the problems rather than the usual excuses employed to explain why that can’t be done.
Excuses aren’t the sole province of members of Congress trying to explain away the abuses perpetrated by oil companies. The companies display similar behavior. Mr. Obama properly called them to task for such behavior. He did not mince words.
The president hammered the companies responsible for the spill. Then he blistered executives from those companies — BP, which was drilling the well, Transocean, which owned the rig, and Halliburton, which was doing work to cap the well — for trying to avoid responsibility for what may have caused the spill. The criticism leveled Friday was pointed, but fair.
“Let me also say, by the way, a word here about BP and the other companies involved in this mess. … I did not appreciate what I considered to be a ridiculous spectacle during the congressional hearings into this matter. You had executives of BP and Transocean and Halliburton falling over each other to point the finger of blame at somebody else. The American people could not have been impressed with that display, and I certainly wasn’t,”
“I understand,” the president continued, “that there are legal and financial issues involved, and a full investigation will tell us exactly what happened. But it is pretty clear that the system failed, and it failed badly. And for that, there is enough responsibility to go around. And all parties should be willing to accept it.”
That responsibility, Mr. Obama reiterated, includes assuming financial responsibility for the aftermath of the spill. “I know BP has committed to pay for the response effort, and we will hold them to their obligation,” he said. That might prove difficult. While BP continues to insist that it will pay the costs, that promise comes with a caveat. The company says it will pay only “legitimate” claims arising from the spill and the cleanup.
So far, though, the company has failed to provide even a definition of what it might view as “legitimate.” That is, it seems, a signal that there will be a difference of opinion about what meets that standard. Lawsuits can be expected.
Mr. Obama’s indignation over the spill and the role of the companies that played a part in its occurrence accurately reflects the outrage most Americans have expressed about the incident. The president’s vow that his administration will continue to work to halt the leak, to contain the spill and to protect the Gulf Coast and the people who live there is welcome. Those, however, are short-term tasks.
There are long-range tasks to be undertaken as well. They include taking steps to prevent or, if that is not possible, to significantly reduce the chance of similar incidents in the future. That work will be difficult, but it well worth doing.