President Obama headed to Louisiana this weekend to check out the worsening environmental disaster caused by the BP oil spill, and reiterated that BP will have to pay for the cleanup. But, Monique Harden of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights notes, we need to clean up more than just this oil spill--we need to clean up our energy policy.
Harden joins us by phone from Louisiana's Gulf Coast to talk about the continuing cleanup and containment efforts, Obama's role, and why this is just one example of what's wrong with offshore drilling.
There is little restraint on environmental impacts by oil companies. Regulation is the only avenue for reason, which must be based on independent science. Standard safety valves not used in US? Why?
How is money more important than life itself? Petroleum cannot be cleaned up except superficially,
toxic effects will continue for many years. Genetic damage is not reversable. Company reps say trying to work at 5000 feet is like outer space. Obviously, drilling at such depths is ill advised .
By Allen Gerhardt on May 6th, 2010 at 10:31 am