Gulf oil spill: Senate Democrats call on BP to set aside $20 billion to pay for cleanup and economic damages

A majority of the Senate called on BP to set up a $20-billion account, administered by an independent  trustee, to pay for cleanup and economic damages from the massive gulf oil spill, calling it an important step toward "ensuring that there will be no delay in payments or attempt to evade responsibility for damages."

The request came in a letter signed by 54 senators, or nearly the entire Democratic caucus. "The damages caused by your company are far reaching," the legislators wrote to BP's chief executive, Tony Hayward.

Although the oil company has pledged to pay cleanup costs and economic damage claims, "history has taught us that corporations often fail to live up to their initial promises," the senators wrote.

In the letter, senators said that creating such a fund would "do more to improve BP's public image than the costly public relations campaign your company has launched."

They asked for a response by Friday, a day after Hayward is scheduled to make his first appearance before a congressional committee.

-- Richard Simon, reporting from Washington

Photo: BP chief Tony Hayward, seen visiting a Louisiana beach last month, was asked in a letter by Senate Democrats to set aside $20 billion for expenses related to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[ronald gochenour]

july 4,2010

To the president of the united states
Oil disaster day 76 in the gulf. go to the gulf today you have the right not to go to the gulf. you don't have the right not to send everything we have to fight the disaster in the gulf. we will not and cannot trust BP. it is hard for me to believe that the oil is on shore and BP and the government are not making every effort to clean up the oil. I would like to see you make EPA show air and water test. we need to know why people are getting sick. help the people in the gulf with food, loans, work, make sure no one looses their home and boats from BP oil spill. I need to know how much wildlife is died from the oil spill the people need to see all the dead. how many people in the water clean up all the dead fish. news media not showing all the dead and all the oil I thank someone in the fed government making it hard for them to do their jobs. I thank it is hard for people to believe that the fed government has made a bigger mistake in the gulf this time. what I would like to see happen is the president go to the gulf and make it clear the news media can go anywhere to report on the oil spill. call up all national guard to go to the gulf and make sure that BP is not doing anything wrong like putting sand over oil on the shore. call up all the wildlife people to go to the gulf to help with saving all the wildlife that has not died. call up all the people that know how to clean up oil on the sand. do not call up people that only want to say No to everything and remove the ones in the gulf. If someone has a good idea how to clean up the oil on shore try something........my name is Ronald GOCHENOUR I have lived in VA all my 55 years I vote democrat .2 times now I have seen on t.v.the worst of what can happen in the gulf and the fed government very poor job.so many people lost their life and lost everything they loved I am so sorry for the loss of love ones

thank you
Mr president

=

[Max]

Another Obabamacare disaster? First stop the bleeding, then apply pressure to the wound!

Coming soon... Chapter 11.

[Virginia Cazort]

Why are we still talking "clean-up" and monetary reparation when we have no way to apologize to the porpoises (we don't see Flipper's babies dying in oil or baby sea turtles, if their mamas have survived to get to shore, getting coated with oil on their way back to the --well, what used to be the sea but is not THE OIL?) Isn't it time for theCculture of Man to start acknowledging IN THE MEDIA his/her place in the food chain, in the whole of nature, and acting responsibly to find alternative sources to keep the species going without killing off other species? Instead, we talk about compensating with money those humans who are responsible as part of the culpable group of US so that we can continue to delude ourselves into thinking that a "clean-up" is possi ble. It is not posible. Ask a coral, ask a turtle, ask a dolphin! How are we going to compensate them?

[Paul Taylor Examiner]

Environmental groups take tax deductible donations from you and industry to operate global fear-mongering campaigns about the problems of pollution, species extinction and climate change. These eco-groups also lobby intensely for costly government regulations to fix environmental problems. Elite green groups have traded their green “seals of approval” for donations as marketing tools to industry – including to corporate oil companies. The green lobbies have grown to some $1.5 billion in annual tax-exempt assets with the advent of selling “green cred” to industry.

The Washington Post and The Economist have recently reported on the cozy relationships between eco-groups and corporate interests such as BP (British Petroleum). BP is responsible for one of the largest and most ecologically-destructive pollution incidents in history. Oil soaked ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico will be disrupted or dead for years to come. Some of the most politically-influential and wealthy eco-groups have taken tens of millions of dollars from BP, and formed “donor alliances” with other big oil operators to assure continuing corporate cash donations. At some point, these sales of green group endorsements to corporations become a clear conflict of environmental interests.

As a matter of good faith dealing and integrity, green groups should return the millions of dollars in donations from BP. And, BP should apply those millions to the cleanup and recovery in the Gulf of Mexico. Here are a few of the reported BP money and other corporate entanglements that directly benefitted big eco-groups:

· The Nature Conservancy has taken about $10 million in cash and land from BP;
· Conservation International took over $2 million from BP;
· The Environmental Defense Fund (Environmental Defense) campaigned with BP for government carbon cap-and-trade regulations through the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), an alliance of eco-groups and corporate carbon trading ventures;
· USCAP involvements include the Nature Conservancy, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Resources Institute;
· BP had energy business relationships with the Sierra Club and the Audubon Society.

In addition, President Obama was the top recipient of BP campaign money during the 2008 presidential election. Obama collected $71,000, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. The Obama campaign should return all of its BP money.

[rentalj]

BP tied lines into the seafloor BOP's of the well blowing out in the Gulf well over 2 weeks ago. One would think that the first thing they would have done is flow the well up that piping to gather information needed to determine what would be necessary to stop the flow out the top of the Bop's. They could have gotten a very good idea of flow rate uu this, pipe the flowing pressure at the BOP's, and the flow rate out the top of the BOP's. A multiple flow rate test would have given information that would allowed the design of all equipment needed to produce the well as well as shut off the riser that was leaking the oil into the Gulf. I have wondered from the first why this was not done. The top kill attempt and the cutting of the riser upstream of the bend right at the top of the BOP's would have been avoided. None of the things that have been done to this point would have been necessary to stop the flow. I saw David Axlerod on television this morning saying they have some outside group working on this and the government is telling BP what to do. This problem while complicated is much simpler than it is being treated. Basic petroleum engineering can easily give a solution and the mechanical design is likely not nearly as complicated as what has been done. I would very much appriciate a reply to this e-mail as I have comments to many places and have not had any replies.

[ron goch]

HELP SAVE THE GULF-HELP SAVE THE GULF- HELP THE PEOPLE IN THE GULF - HELP THE PEOPLE IN THE GULF

DISASTER IN
THE GULF NO HOPE FOR THE PEOPLE

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WHY WE CANNOT STOP THE OIL

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SAD PEOPLE ON THE RIG WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. AND THE LOSS OF LIFE
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WE NEED TO SEE MORE PEOPLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT IN THE GULF
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HOW MANY PEOPLE NEED TO DIE OR GET SICK
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HOW MUCH WILDLIFE DO WE NEED TO LOSE
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HOW MUCH WATER OIL DO WE NEED ,SO MUCH OIL IN WATER
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HOW MANY PEOPLE WORKING ON LAND TO REMOVE OIL
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WHY THE PRESIDENT IS NOT ON THE GULF TO MAKE SURE THAT BP AND FED GOV ARE
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DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE
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WHY THE NEWS MEDIA NOT SHOWING PEOPLE CLEANING UP THE GULF
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HOW LONG WILL NEWS MEDIA STAY,,HOPE LONGER THEN THE EARTHQUAKE
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WHY THE NEWS MEDIA NOT COVING THE SICK PEOPLE FROM THE OIL SPILL
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TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR THE PEOPLE AND WILDLIFE IN THE GULF. DO WE NEED MORE PEOPLE WHY NOT USE PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE WORLD THAT WANT TO HELP WITH THE CLEAN UP
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IT IS HARD FOR ME TO BELIEVE THAT WE DON'T HAVE ANYONE THAT CAN STOP THE OIL
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OIL SPILL DAY 53
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WHY BP NOT WORKING WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE USA
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WHY THE GOVERNOR IN THE GULF GO ON T.V.,IF YOU NEED HELP CALL THE NATIONAL GUARD

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WHY WE ONLY SEE 5 TO10 PEOPLE ON THE SAND WORKING WITH OIL COMING TO SHORE ,THE GOVERNOR NEED TO ACT ,SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG WITH THE GOV IN THE GULF,STAY OFF T.V.
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TODAY NEWS DO NOT GO TO THE GULF DUE TO THE OIL SPILL
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VERY SAD IN THE USA TODAY NO HOPE FOR THE GULF,IT WILL BE A GOOD DAY IN THE GULF IF THE PEOPLE REMOVE ALL THE GOVERNORS NOT DOING ANYTHING ONLY TALKING ON CNN CNBC FOX NEWS MSNBC

ron goch