[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 87 (Thursday, June 10, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4837-S4839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CALL TO ACTION

  Mr. FRANKEN. Madam President, I rise to speak about the BP Deepwater 
Horizon oilspill and the need for comprehensive energy legislation.
  We just defeated a resolution that was an attempt to take our country 
backward in our energy policy at a time when moving forward could not 
be more critical. We are in the midst of the worst environmental 
catastrophe in our Nation's history. This oilspill is a tragedy--a 
tragedy for our environment; our wildlife, which is dying in a coat of 
crude; a tragedy for the people of the gulf whose land and livelihood 
have been destroyed and threatened; and a tragedy for the workers on 
that oil rig who were killed or injured and their families.
  My constituents are furious, and so am I. I have gotten over 5,000 
calls and letters from Minnesotans demanding action and accountability 
for this disaster.

  Well, let there be no question: BP, British Petroleum, will be held 
responsible for all costs incurred as a result of this oilspill. The 
company had no viable plan in place to deal with a spill of this 
magnitude. It is an outrage, and the taxpayers must not be left holding 
the bag for BP's failure.
  But some losses can never be recovered. Fragile ocean and coastal 
ecosystems have suffered irreparable harm, with massive losses of birds 
and fish and damages to wetlands that provide a critical buffer against 
gulf hurricanes. Fishermen will have no way to support their families 
in these tough times. And kids will go to the beach only to find sand 
and water drowned by oil. Worst of all, we can never replace the 11 
workers who lost their lives in this tragedy, nor can we hope to fully 
compensate the families of the victims

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for their losses--losses that were entirely preventable.
  While we do not yet know all of the technical details of why this 
spill occurred, one thing is clear: BP blatantly neglected to invest in 
safety, and the Federal Government did not do a thing to hold the 
company accountable.
  BP knew about safety concerns on the Deepwater Horizon long before 
the explosion occurred in April. The New York Times reports that BP 
knew 11 months ago that there were potential safety problems with the 
well casing and the blowout preventer. The casing BP installed last 
summer was never proven to withstand the water pressure of deepwater 
drilling. Shortly before the explosion in April, the company installed 
a risky, cheap casing--to save money.
  And then there is the blowout preventer, which is supposed to close 
off the well in the case of a disaster. The blowout preventer was 
malfunctioning and leaking fluid a month before the explosion, and BP 
knew this, but BP chose profits over safety.
  Where was the Federal Minerals Management Service during all of this? 
Where was the body charged with regulating safety in the oil industry? 
This was a dismal failure of Federal oversight, with exemption after 
exemption granted to BP by an ineffective agency overridden with 
conflicts of interest. The ineffectiveness of MMS is inexcusable. Just 
earlier this week, I asked MMS for a list of all of BP's deepwater 
projects in the gulf--a seemingly simple task. Instead of getting me a 
list, MMS told my staff they did not know how many deepwater projects 
BP has in the gulf. This is unconscionable.
  BP's poor safety record is not new. OSHA data compiled by the Center 
for Public Integrity shows that the company accounted for 829 of the 
851 willful safety violations industry-wide at oil refineries cited by 
OSHA in the last 3 years. Those numbers speak for themselves.
  It is not that BP could not afford to invest in safety. This 
recession, which has been devastating to so many families in Minnesota, 
in New Hampshire, and across the country, has been a lucrative time for 
BP. The company's first-quarter profits this year amounted to over $6 
billion--$6 billion. That is more than double their first-quarter 
profits from last year. And we found out recently that BP has spent $50 
million on advertising to manage its image after the oilspill and plans 
to pay over $10 billion in dividends to its shareholders this week. I 
would suggest they hold off on that.
  So this is not a company that could not afford to invest in safety. 
They just chose not to. Let me repeat that. This is not a company that 
could not afford to invest in safety. They just chose not to. And if 
they had, those 11 workers would be alive today and their families 
would have them.
  But we cannot only look back. We have to look forward. If there was 
ever a moment in our history when it has become obvious we cannot drill 
ourselves to energy independence, it is now. We are not just talking 
about caring for the environment or worker safety. This spill is a call 
to action to secure the future of our country. It is time to kick our 
addiction to oil. We need to face our energy challenge head-on and 
enact bold, comprehensive energy and climate legislation, and we need 
to do it now.
  We know it can be done. Minnesota is a national leader in renewable 
energy policies. My State produces 9.4 percent of its electricity from 
wind power--the second highest in the country. We are well on our way 
to meeting our State renewable energy standard of 25 percent renewable 
energy by 2025, and we have passed a law to increase our ethanol blend 
to 20 percent starting in 2013. Minnesota shows us what is possible as 
a country.
  There are still Members of this body who argue that comprehensive 
energy and climate legislation can wait, that we can continue with 
business as usual. Well, that argument simply does not hold. What will 
it take--what will it take--beyond the biggest oilspill in our 
country's history to convince skeptics it is time to wean our country 
off of oil? How many more oilspills will it take?
  Today, we face a choice. We can choose not to enact comprehensive 
legislation that puts a price on carbon and watch as the clean energy 
jobs and innovation of the 21st century go oversees to China and Japan 
and India and South Korea and Germany--you name it--because those 
countries definitely are not waiting to act. China is now the largest 
manufacturer of wind turbines and solar panels in the world. It is 
adding 100,000 new clean energy jobs every year. Those are jobs that 
should be here in America. Our other choice is to spur American 
innovation and create jobs to build a new economy based on clean 
energy. I can guarantee you that you are never going to see a 60-day 
ethanol spill threaten the livelihoods of shrimpers and oystermen and 
fishermen. And you are never going to see a wind turbine blow up and 
pollute the ocean and threaten all manner of wildlife and the coastline 
of America or kill 11 men. So the choice is obvious to me, and it is 
obvious to the rest of the world too.
  Earlier this week, I was in a meeting, and I heard a story about 
German Chancellor Angela Merkel. When someone asked the Chancellor 
about encouraging U.S. companies to support a price on carbon, she 
said: No, I don't want to do that; I don't want to wake the sleeping 
economic giant that is the United States. She and the rest of the world 
know that if we do not put a price on greenhouse gas emissions, America 
stands to lose. We stand to lose our jobs to other countries, and we 
stand to lose the essence of what has made America great all throughout 
history--our ability to innovate, to create, to solve the world's 
problems through new technologies that make the world a better place to 
live. Well, we just cannot let that happen.
  It is not going to be easy to transition away from oil. But running 
away from challenges has never been the American way. The American way 
is to face our problems and to innovate ourselves out of them. That is 
what has made us the global economic leader.
  So now is our time to lead again. If we do not act on comprehensive 
energy and climate legislation, even after this catastrophe in the 
gulf, our children and our grandchildren are going to look back on this 
and on us with complete bewilderment: What were they waiting for? That 
is what they are going to ask. What were you waiting for?
  This moment and this oilspill remind me of the fable of the man stuck 
on the roof during a flood. Someone comes up to him with a ladder, as 
the waters rise, but he waves them away, saying: No, no, no, go save 
others. I know God will save me.
  The water gets higher, and a man in a rescue boat comes along to help 
him.
  He said: No. Fine. Fine. God will save me.
  Then a helicopter comes, and the man yells up: No, no, leave me. God 
will save me.
  Finally, the waters rise to the roof and the man drowns, and in 
heaven, he asks God: Why didn't you save me?
  And God says: What do you mean? I sent you a ladder, a boat, and a 
helicopter. What else does it take?
  Right now, the United States is the man on the roof, waiting, as our 
energy problems get worse and opportunities pass us by one by one. 
Well, I am not willing to let that happen. In the coming months, we in 
this great body are going to have to work together, make compromises, 
and craft a long-term energy and climate policy that serves our country 
for the betterment of future generations. I want to be able to look my 
grandchildren in the eye, I want to be able to look my great-
grandchildren in the eye, too, and tell them that we did everything we 
could to leave this world a better place than the one we were born 
into. The stakes are too high not to act, and not to act now. So let's 
work to craft a comprehensive energy policy.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Merkley). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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