Pallone: “Even a historic settlement can’t undo the unprecedented damage of the BP oil spill”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2015


WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement regarding the Department of Justice’s announcement that the United States has reached a historic settlement with BP to resolve the civil lawsuit over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The $20.8 billion settlement is the largest settlement with a single entity in the department’s history. Earlier this year, Pallone and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced bills in the House and Senate, respectively, to ban offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.

“Five years after the Deepwater Horizon spill, after families have fought to rebuild their livelihoods and governments have dedicated precious resources towards the clean-up, the money from this settlement is long overdue. While it will help with continued recovery and restoration efforts, the effects of this spill will still be felt for generations. Monetary compensation alone is not enough; we must learn our lesson.

“The spill was the single largest environmental disaster this country has ever seen and it was completely preventable. The technology that the oil industry claims can prevent disaster did not work. Lives were lost and immeasurable damage was done.

“Offshore oil exploration continues to put our environment, and the local economies that rely on it, at risk. Despite the irreparable and detrimental effects of the spill, there are those who stand to profit from expanded drilling under the same conditions and rules that allowed the spill in the first place. We cannot allow these penalties to be the cost of doing business. In order to truly stand by the coastal communities that suffered as a result of dangerous oil drilling, we must shift away from the oil-above-all priorities of this Republican Congress.

“This tragedy must serve as a reminder of the pitfalls of oil dependent energy priorities. We cannot risk more lives or the viability of an entire region just to send more oil abroad.”

Congressman Pallone Introduces Amendment to Protect the Atlantic Ocean from Dangerous Offshore Drilling

HR 6082 Gives Big Oil Unfettered Access to Drill

WASHINGTON DC – Yesterday, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) introduced an amendment in the Natural Resources Committee markup of H.R. 6082 that removed proposed oil and gas lease sales in the Atlantic Ocean from the bill. The original legislation will enable Big Oil companies the ability to lease five areas in the Atlantic for oil exploration, which would put the valuable coasts at risk.

H.R. 6082 accelerates the timetable for oil companies to lease waters around the United States for oil drilling. It requires the Department of Interior to move forward with leases in waters including the east and west coasts.  The bill also revives a Bush Administration plan which calls for leases to be issued in the mid-Atlantic and North Atlantic regions.

“Just two years after the BP oil spill devastated the Gulf, this bill brought forth by the Republican Majority expands drilling without any thought to safety and environmental safeguards,” said Pallone. “In New Jersey our ocean environment is integral to our economy, impacting commercial and recreational fishermen, seafood distributors and coastal tourism. This bill puts all of that at risk for the sake of increasing Big Oil’s profits.”

Pallone called for a focus on renewable energy sources, rather than oil drilling which has limited short-term impact and could seriously damage the ocean environment and hurt coastal economies.

“At this time we should recognize that we simply cannot drill our way to energy independence, and instead we should focus on investing in a clean energy strategy that reduces our dependence on foreign oil and moves us towards a new era of clean energy jobs,” Pallone added. 

Oil Spill Amnesia

The following is from Congressman Rush Holt's Newsletter:

Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. On April 20, 2010, the oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers. The platform soon collapsed beneath the water’s surface, but over the course of the following 87 days, more than four million barrels of oil spewed from the blown-out Macondo well, coating nearly 1,000 miles of Gulf coastline and temporarily closing more than 88,000 square miles of some of the nation’s most productive fishing grounds.

The Deepwater Horizon tragedy was a wake-up call, but some of my colleagues seem to have missed the sound of the alarm. In the two years since the disaster, I have offered bills to implement the safety recommendations of the National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. I also have introduced the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act to make sure that oil companies pay the full cost of damages resulting from future oil spills. Unfortunately, the Republican majority has refused to allow these much-needed reforms to be considered by the House of Representatives.

We owe the families of those killed two years ago a serious examination of the lessons learned in order to ensure that the ongoing drilling in the Gulf is as safe as possible. We owe the families and workers who depend on the coastal resources of New Jersey and elsewhere a promise that a similar accident will never take place off of their shores.

Free Student Aid Workshop on Monday, April 30
Do you have concerns about affording higher education? On Monday, April 30, at 7 p.m., I will be organizing a free Student Aid Workshop for high school students and their parents in conjunction with the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority and Rutgers University. The workshop will be held at the South Brunswick Public Library, 110 Kingston Lane in Monmouth Junction.

Experts will be on hand to offer information on financial aid opportunities at the federal, state, and campus levels, including Pell Grants, Perkins Loans, and scholarship programs offered by the State of New Jersey. They will also be glad to answer your questions and provide information about your own financial aid situation.
For more information, please contact Andrew Black of my staff at (609) 750-9365 or andrew.black@mail.house.gov.

Celebrate National Park Week: Visit Any National Park for Free
Wallace Stegner, the famed Western writer and historian, once said that national parks are “the best idea we’ve ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst." And next week, you’ll have the opportunity to visit any of America’s 397 national parks – and any of the hundreds of battlefields, historic places, and other associated sites managed by the National Park Service – without paying any entrance fee.

National Park Week 2012 runs from this Saturday, April 21, through Sunday, April 29. It presents a great opportunity to visit any of New Jersey’s national parks, including America’s newest national park, Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park. Many other parks are within easy driving distance.

To learn more about National Park Week and to plan your trip, visit NationalParkWeek.org.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress

Pallone On Squawk Box To Discuss "Oil Spill Bill"

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) appeared on Sqauwk Box to discuss and provide insight into the CLEAR Act... aka, the "oil spill bill" that has hit the floor of the House of Representative.

Two very interesting, different and striking stances are taken between Pallone and Cassidy when it comes to this bill and who should be held accountable and responsible for future oil spills and their clean up.

I think Congressman Pallone nailed it.

Bruce Springsteen - crawfisherman?!; Hero woos commission with soulful crooning

I heard about this video the other day while listening to the radio. It's is very moving and worth the watch. This guy Drew Landry is a real person who has been effected by the BP oil spill and deserves to be heard by all.

"There was a public hearing about the Gulf oil spill in Louisiana a while back...and this quiet fisherman, Drew Landry, didn't just speak from his heart, but he performed a song worthy of Bruce's BEST! Really - it's like "The River" Louisianne style."

OBAMA SINGS KICK ASS SONG?!?!

President Obama gives a strong Hip-Hop performance in the video below as he unleashes his anger on BP during his interview with Matt Lauer.

Friday Morning Funnies: BP Spills Coffee

This is what happens when BP spills coffee, courtesy of UCBComedy.com



hat tip goes to LAUGH!!

Groups offer prayer for the environment in the wake of BP calamity

A friend sent me the following post from the NEW YORK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY blog. It's about a group of people that gathered on the beach to pray that Northwest Florida be spared from the oil spill lurking in the Gulf of Mexico.

I thought it relevent and worthwhile to post considering that while BP has started to recover some of the oil being released by it's deep water well, it hasn't contained it all. More and more oil each minute is being spilled into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and see that man has not been able to stop it fully as yet maybe a little bit of divine intervention is not such a bad thing to pray for.



"Well before some other groups began praying for the environmental catastrophe surrounding the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, there was this group (which posted its video on May 8th).

Since then, groups around the country have joined together to offer prayer for an the end to that oil leak, and for relief to the communities, residents and wildlife that call the Gulf of Mexico home."

VoteVets Ad Tying Gulf Oil Spill To National Security

If you haven't seen it yet, below is the latest T.V spot that is running during many of the cable network news programs. The ad is from the organization Votevets.org and features a national guardsman who has been deployed to the Louisiana Gulf coast region to help clean up the BP Deep Horizon oil spill that is washing up on the beaches and impacting the environment.

The Guardsman asks if now is not the time to invest in our energy future with new, clean technologies, when will be the right time?

Check it out!

"For weeks now, we've watched oil gush into the Gulf of Mexico. But, did you know that over 11,000 National Guardsmen have been sent to clean it up? 11,000 men and women that signed up to protect America, not clean up an oil company's mess. Well, we've got a $1.5 million ad campaign making that point, and making clear that only by clean energy reform can we get off this addiction to oil that has us drilling so much, and so close to the shoreline.

The new ad features a veteran of the Louisiana National Guard, who served in the clean up effort. In the ad, he says, "When I signed on with the National Guard, I did it to help protect America from our enemies... Not to clean up an oil company's mess here in the Gulf of Mexico... But America needs a new mission. Because whether it's deep-drilling oil out here, or spending a billion dollars a day on oil from our enemies overseas, our dependence on oil is threatening our national security."

By passing a clean energy plan, we can cut our foreign oil dependence in half, invest billions in new energy technologies, and set up new rules that govern off-shore drilling. That's a fight worth taking on."

President Obama's Weekly Adress: 6/5/10 Speaking from Louisiana on the Oil Spill

Speaking from Grand Isle, Louisiana, the President discusses the hardships local residents and small business owners are facing as a result of the BP oil spill. He pledges to make sure those responsible do not shortchange them.

Learn more about the ongoing Administration-wide response.

President Obama's Weekly Address: 5/22/10 BP Spill Independent Commission

The President announces that the independent commission he created for the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling will be chaired by former Florida Governor and Senator Bob Graham and former EPA Administrator Bill Reilly. He promises accountability not just for BP, but for those in government who bore responsibility.




Learn more about the government response >>> Here
Learn more about the commission >>> Here