British Petroleum may be on the hook for the clean-up costs of its ongoing oil spill, but who will pay for the havoc wrought on the economy of the Gulf Coast? Well, BP is only liable for $75 million for losses incurred by area businesses and government agencies, a relative drop in the bucket. BP and other oil companies, through a minimal tax, also contribute to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to cover for the economic losses of such spills, but only $1 billion which isn’t actually that much can be used for each spill incident. So three Democratic senators are pushing a new bill to raise that liability cap all the way to $10 billion. And to make the bill just a bit harder to oppose, they’re calling it the “Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act,” because there are few things more unpopular in this country right now than big oil and bailouts. If you vote against the bill, you might as well grow some chin hair and grab a pitchfork, because you’re basically the devil.
Robert Menendez Pushes Bill Raising BP’s Oil Spill Liability To $10 Billion [HuffPo]
