Gulf oil spill: Obama administration warns BP it's on the hook for all damages, not the taxpayers

[IScreamSundays]

Source: LA Times

The Obama administration warned BP in a strongly worded letter Saturday that the federal government expects the oil giant -- and not taxpayers -- to pay all damages associated with the ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil leak, even if they exceed the $75-million liability cap under federal law.

Two Cabinet secretaries, Ken Salazar of Interior and Janet Napolitano of Homeland Security, wrote to BP chief executive Tony Hayward to reiterate the administration's position that "BP is accountable to the American public for the full clean up of this spill and all the economic loss caused by the spill and related events."

The secretaries noted that BP has promptly paid damages claims thus far, and that company officials have repeatedly said they'll pay all "legitimate claims" stemming from the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig and subsequent, ongoing leak of thousands of barrels a day.

In light of those statements, Salazar and Napolitano wrote, "we understand that BP will not in any way seek to rely on the potential $75 million statutory cap to refuse to provide compensation to any individuals or others harmed by the oil spill, even if more than $75 million is required to provide full compensation to all claimants, and BP will not seek reimbursement from the American taxpayers, the United States Government, or the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for any amount.

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Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/05/obama-admin-to-bp-no-75-million-cap-on-liability.html

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

1. No matter how you dice it, "the taxpayers" will pay for this.

BP supplies a product with an inelastic demand.
The price of oil will be raised and the people will pay for it.
The money BP pays will simply be fleeced from the consumers.

End of story.

[HereSince1628]

2. Hah! I declare HAH! BP has limited capacity to pay that alone limits its risk

BP is gonna go bankrupt and then its assets will be reorganized to avoid the costs of this calamity...that's the way finances and business work.

Meanwhile the well will release 250K barrels of oil per day until the internal pressure of the oil reservoir is exhausted below the level necessary to push out that volume.

In the end, local, state and federal governments will be forced to to deal with the consequences.

[Optical.Catalyst]

3. Transocean and Halliburton need to be included in the bill also

Dick Cheney needs to pay his 'fair share' also by standing trial.

[Trillo]

4. That's all very interesting,

but there are items here that are priceless and a monetary value has never been, and likely can't be, translated into money.

If we kill the ocean of its higher life forms, I honestly don't think any will consider compensating those lifeforms for the loss of their environment. Can't be done. We live in a biosphere with these creatures, and all have found a specialized niche in which their importance to the whole can't be overstated.

Is it now too late to ask once again for clean forms of power? Or do 'we' need to 'go back' to some kind of primordial world first and allow evolution to shuffle the deck of creation once again? How far back are we taking it?

Lets loose the dregs of darkness below to issue forth streams of methane ice and oil as our gift to globe?

[BeFree]

5. Damages

The damages caused to the environment will be established, monetarily, by how much it costs to restore said environments.

I'm buying stock in groups that will be working to restore the environment in the gulf. They will be working steady for 20 years at least.

[yurbud]

6. that damages cap is prima facie evidence of profound corruption of Congress

With laws like that, our legislators should be embarrassed to criticize Karzai or anyone else for having their hands in the cookie jar.

[QUALAR]

7. Stacked Deck

This is just another Obama shell game. He feigns outrage and promises that BP will pay for the devastation, but he knows the deck is already stacked in favor of BP. The courts will strike down any liability above 75 million dollars. BP will pay more than that to improve their public relations, but it will be a drop in the ocean compared to the overall cost.

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. "$75-million liability cap" - what's that, about a week's profits?

.
.
.

I agree there should be NO cap

restock the Gulf with its marine and bird life

compensate the fishermen for their lost income

compensate the shore people who lost real estate value,

and so on . . .

MAKE THEM PAY FOR EVERYTHING!

Billion dollar profits annually

million dollar perks for their executives

I think the Oil Giants can spare the coin

take some of the money out of what they "donate" to senators and congressmen

I bet there's some oil dollars in more than a few legislators bank accounts/pockets.

Wasn't the last President involved with oil somehow . . . ?

:freak:

[GETPLANING]

9. Oh NO, not the Strongly Worded Letter!

BP executives are cowering under their desks!

[jody]

10. SCOTUS will decide how much BP pays not a president. n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

11. Taxpayers are already paying

for every fed diverted from their normal workload to deal with this mess. That cost should be calculated and billed back to BP.