Ted Poe: “So the lesson for today is: Where does the oil pollution from off our coasts come from? Let's keep it simple. This is a…”

“So the lesson for today is: Where does the oil pollution from off our coasts come from? Let's keep it simple. This is a chart. This is a chart that shows oil pollution from off our coasts. It comes from the National Academy of Sciences. It gives four sources. As shown by the blue line, the number 1 polluter of crude oil off our coasts comes from Mother Nature. Sixty-three percent of the crude that has polluted our coasts and our gulfs comes from Mother Nature. It seeps from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to the surface, 63 percent. The number 2 polluter, as shown by the green line, is recreational boating. Thirty-two percent of the pollution of crude oil comes from boating. The number 3 source, shown by the yellow line, appropriately so, is from tankers from overseas, 3 percent. It's those tankers, for example, that come from Saudi Arabia that are polluting our oceans by leaking crude oil, but it's only 3 percent. As shown by the red line, the little bitty red line, 2 percent of offshore drilling rigs cause 2 percent of that oil pollution.”