Latest news: December 12, 2011
Editorial, New York Times. December 9, 2011.
“The Obama administration this week officially began what it hopes will be a sustained push to reverse decades of man-made degradation in the Gulf of Mexico. The trigger for this effort is last year’s disastrous BP oil spill. But the administration’s strategy goes beyond repairing immediate damages, to the task of restoring the entire ecosystem to good health…”
By Matt Reed, Florida Today. December 9, 2011.
“The ocean and our livelihoods need your help.
For once, a promising environmental bill has emerged that is affordable, supported by Republicans and Democrats and fair to oil companies. Yet, the bill could die from congressional gridlock and Washington accounting if not for public pressure and support from your U.S. senators and representatives…”
By Bob Marshall, Field and Stream. December 9, 2011.
“Some $20 billion in fines from the Deepwater Horizon spill that should go to restoring fish and wildlife habitat in the Gulf could disappear into the nation’s general treasury unless sportsmen get involved in the next few weeks…”
By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune. December 9, 2011.
“Louisiana lawmakers say they know they’ll have to fight to get 80 percent of the fines from the BP oil spill for Gulf Coast states, and it’s reassuring that they remain confident the RESTORE the Gulf Coast Act will be adopted. But it’s frustrating that misinformation and poorly reasoned arguments were raised in a U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on the bill…”
By David Hartgrove, Daytona Beach News-Journal. December 12, 2011.
“Congress has a chance to show that it isn’t completely gridlocked.
There’s bipartisan support for the Restore Act, Senate Bill 1400. The companion bill, House Resolution 3096, is a watered-down version, but a conference committee can iron out these differences…”
By Times-Picayune Staff, The Times-Picayune. December 10, 2011.
“The bad news for proponents of legislation to target 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines for last year’s BP oil spill to the five Gulf states is that there’s opposition to the measure from at least one influential House Republican. The good news is that some of the “concerns” about the bill expressed by Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, a subcommittee chairman, are off base…”
By Editorial page staff, The Jackson Clarion-Ledger. December 9, 2011.
“The knives were drawn at a congressional hearing Wednesday to discuss the Gulf Coast RESTORE act meant to make the Coast whole after last year’s disastrous oil spill…”
By Darren Samuelsohn and Darren Goode, Politico. December 12, 2011.
“Capitol Hill’s biggest energy policy trend of 2011 is a Congress unable to accomplish much of anything.
Don’t expect that to change until after next year’s election…”
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. December 10, 2011.
“Construction of a half-dozen major coastal restoration projects in Louisiana took a small step forward Friday with federal and state officials signing an agreement outlining how to design the projects. The agreement frees up the first $20 million appropriated by Congress this year to be spent on pre-construction engineering and design work…”
By Robert Trigaux, St. Petersburg Times. December 11, 2011.
“Soon after the hideous April 2010 gulf oil spill, Geir Robinson donned the title at BP of “vice president of economic recovery.” A less formal title might just as well be “vice president for preserving BP’s legacy.” “We want our legacy to be that we did the right thing,” Robinson said at least three times in a recent interview…”