Stop Vitter's BP Bailout Bill / We need to cap the leak, not the damages!

Louisiana/GulfCoast, Politics, Recovery

May 28th, 2010  1 Comments

Thirty-eight days ago, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig claimed 11 lives. Now, gobs of heavy oil are invading our coastline and marshes. Louisiana is facing its second major crisis in less than five years.

I’ve spent the last month crisscrossing south Louisiana, listening to the families and fishermen and business owners affected by this disaster. I’ve held two town halls for residents impacted by the oil spill, I’ve demanded the President use the military to fly in more protective boom, I’ve requested mobile health clinics to screen workers who’ve come in contact with the spill, and I’ve succeeded in getting a fisheries disaster declaration so fishermen can get help.

But not once in the last month have I talked to a single Louisianian who thinks that BP and the other companies involved should be held any less than 100 percent responsible for their oil spill.

Yet with the well still uncapped, David Vitter’s first instinct is to protect his friends and donors at BP. Earlier this week, David Vitter blocked an attempt in the U.S. Senate to ensure oil companies have to pay 100 percent of the damage they’ve done when they cause an oil spill like this.

Even worse, David Vitter is offering his own bill to bail out BP.

That’s right, David Vitter wants to talk about capping BP’s responsibility to pay for the damage they’ve done before BP has even capped the leak.

Sign my petition opposing David Vitter’s BP bailout bill — we need to protect Louisiana, not BP!

Eleven lives have been lost and BP has put the livelihoods and well-being of thousands of Louisiana families and businesses at risk. I’m not going to let them off the hook.

David Vitter is working hard to protect his friends at BP, but I’m going to fight for Louisiana and make sure BP pays every dime they owe us for this disaster.

Vitter’s BP bailout bill is nothing more than Washington mumbo jumbo. It limits oil companies’ liability for oil spills to as little as $150 million. BP estimates the total cost of their response efforts so far at $760 million — and that doesn’t count the damage done to countless Louisiana businesses and the impact on the Louisiana economy. Who picks up the rest of the tab under Vitter’s bill? You got it: taxpayers, not those responsible for oil spills.

David Vitter wants to bail out BP and leave taxpayers on the hook. Sign our petition opposing his BP bailout bill!

Washington politicians shouldn’t be setting arbitrary limits, because oil companies like BP should be responsible for paying whatever it costs to fix the damage they create. What sort of message does it send if we let corporations off the hook for irresponsible behavior?

For instance, a company called Anadarko owns 25 percent of the Deepwater Horizon lease, so they should be held responsible for the damage too, right?

But under Vitter’s BP bailout bill, Anadarko’s responsibility to Louisianians would be capped out at far, far less than their full, fair share. That’s because Vitter’s bill sets limits for financial responsibility based solely on the profitability of the company, not how much damage they cause. And Anadarko lost money last year.

Sign the petition opposing David Vitter’s BP bailout bill — we need to cap the leak, not the damages!

David Vitter might not realize this, but our first priority right now needs to be protecting the people of Louisiana — not BP and the companies that caused this mess.
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,

Charlie Melancon

Charlie Melancon Breaks Down During Gulf Oil Spill Hearing: Congressman Leaves While Apparently Starting To Cry  Huffington Post