Still Baby Still
by digby
This comes from the bonafide, sanctioned Institute for Southern Studies, not some soy swallowing California liberal douchebag like* me:
With oil still gushing from the site of BP’s failed Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf — a disaster that’s now likely to eclipse the scale of the Exxon Valdez — some politicians are rethinking the “drill, baby, drill” push for expanded offshore drilling.
But for others — including many leading Republicans and a few Democrats — the message seems to be: “Still, baby, still!”
Facing South took a tally of where key politicians stand in the wake of the Gulf oil disaster:
GULF COAST
The political fallout from the spill has been most interesting in the states nearest to the disaster:
* In Alabama, GOP Gov. Bob Riley is reconsidering his once-staunch support for drilling. In 2008, he said “we need to drill” and found it “astonishing” Congress wouldn’t lift a drilling moratorium. But when asked about his views on Wednesday, Riley said he will have “a completely different attitude” if the state’s efforts to protect their shoreline failed.
* Riley’s fellow AL Republican Sen. Richard Shelby was less reflective, saying Congress should “absolutely” move forward with offshore drilling: “We can learn something from this.”
* Gov. Haley Barbour in Mississippi doesn’t appear to think there’s anything to be learned at all: In an interview with CNN, he downplayed any potential fallout from the spill, saying it’s “not particularly damaging.” He’s still pro-drill.
* In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) has focused his statements on the immediate disaster response, as has Rep. Joseph Cao (R). But Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) immediately made a statement from the floor: “It is more risky to import our oil in tankers than it is to drill for it offshore, even considering this disaster that we’re dealing with today. Retreat is not an option. … We must continue to drill.” Sen. David Vitter (R) also encouraged Obama to press forward with new drilling projects.
* As for Texas, Gov. Rick Perry (R) drew criticism for describing the disaster as an unavoidable “Act of God” en route to calling to stay the course on drilling.
[…]
UPDATE: We’d be remiss not to include Blue Dog Rep. Gene Taylor’s (D) gem from earlier in the week, which seemed to compare the catastrophe to a school lunch mishap:
What I want people to know is this isn’t Katrina. This is not Armageddon. I did this for the Coast Guard many years ago. Yeah, it’s bad. And it’s terrible that there’s a spill out there. But I would remind people that the oil is twenty miles from any marsh. … That chocolate milk looking spill starts breaking up in smaller pieces … It is tending to break up naturally.
BP has long touted itself as a “green” company interested not only in oil and other fossil fuels, but in renewable energy like wind and solar. But as Rebecca Lefton reported on ThinkProgress last week, BP barely invests anything in clean energy — most of its green campaign is actually just a massive advertising gimmick to conceal the truth about the company. While BP has spent hundreds of millions building its brand, it has offshored the dirty work of promoting expanded drilling to right-wing front groups and trade associations. In a 2007 PowerPoint presentation obtained by ThinkProgress, BP appears to have been interested in fighting to open up protected waters to new offshore drilling. The presentation, organized by the BP-funded front group “Consumer Energy Alliance,” was delivered at the American Gas Association’s marketing meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The presentation calls for a five-year plan to build grassroots support to open wide swaths of both the East and West coasts to new drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.
How much money has BP given to these Gulf state politicians?
A lot.
* Bitchy thing for me to say and I regret it. Bad day. Mea culpa.
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