On the recordJuly 30, 2010
The gulf oil spill has been terrible for the gulf coast. But as bad as it has been, the Federal Government's moratorium on deepwater drilling can be worse. And the tragedy of it is that it actually is not going to measurably improve safety. Now, it's not me saying that, it's the entity, the National Academy of Engineering, eight of them, the President appointed them and asked them to approve and to look at his plan. They issued a statement after the blanket moratorium. These are the petroleum engineers. "A blanket moratorium is not the answer. It will not measurably reduce risk. The tragedy has very specific causes. The blanket moratorium will have the indirect effect of harming thousands of workers and further impact State and local economies. We would in effect be punishing a large swath of people who were and are acting responsibly in providing a product the Nation needs. Overcome emotion with fact." We're all angry. Everybody in here is angry at BP. Everybody in here in some way wants to punish those responsible. On the other hand, it's not Big Oil being punished. It's not BP. It is the workers. It is the blue collar welders, roustabouts. It is the service industry. It is the caterers. They are the ones who are going to be punished. And, by the way, the BP fund to recompense them is only $100 million. Estimated wages lost are $700 million. It is not going to come close to covering it.
