Latest news: December 9, 2011
By Mississippi Press Editorial Board, The Mississippi Press. December 9, 2011.
“THE FINAL report of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, delivered this week to President Barack Obama, lays out an excellent plan for how to improve the overall health of the Gulf in the aftermath of the BP oil spill.
Now Congress needs to do its part and approve the funding…”
By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune.
“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 Dave Malakoff, Science Insider. December 7, 2011.
“Legislation that would steer billions of dollars in fines from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill to ecological and economic restoration projects along the Gulf of Mexico got a cautious endorsement today from members of a key congressional panel. But the only scientist to testify at the hearing was critical of some of the research provisions in the RESTORE Act, which faces numerous obstacles to becoming law…”
By Ed Crooks, Financial Times. December 9, 2011.
“The US Department of Justice has attacked an attempt by Transocean, the offshore drilling contractor, to protect itself from penalties arising from the Deepwater Horizon disaster last year, accusing the company of “willful misconduct”.
The move suggests the US government will seek the maximum possible penalties against Transocean, and also possibly against BP, potentially implying fines and damages running into the tens of billions of dollars…”