Governor Perry is being questioned about his silly “act of God” comment regarding the BP oil leak in the Gulf, and he’s apparently a mite touchy about it. Look, we all know – clearly Perry does – that “act of God” is a legal term that would have enormous financial implications if it were true in this case. Even I have a hard time believing that Perry truly thought this was the case when he first said it. It’s much more likely that he was just trying to come up with some explanation that wasn’t politically dicey for his worldview, and in doing so said something silly. I’m as happy to pounce on him for it as the next guy, but if he’d just say that he misspoke and talk instead about how vital it is to try to figure out so that we might hopefully be able to prevent these catastrophes from happening again, I figure most people would just move on down the road. Seems to me that by continuing to insist that “act of God” means what he says it means, he’s prolonging the story and will ultimately make himself look like an even bigger idiot than usual. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I’m just having a hard time fathoming how he fails to recognize the position he’s in.
In the meantime, if you’d like to hear what someone who actually knows what he’s talking about has to say about the BP disaster, read this from Bill White. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Governor who can understand stuff like this and make sense of it?
Finally, for extra credit, read how so-called “small-government conservatives” suddenly love them some federal government in the aftermath of the BP disaster; the costs of oil compared to its greener competitors; the external costs and unaccounted for risks of oil; who’s on the hook for the costs of cleanup; and the Dick Cheney connection to this whole sorry mess. You knew there had to be one, right?
Great title. I laughed out loud. Bad mistake for Perry, who is usually very well scripted and on message. This one may have some legs, both because of the “act of God” thing and the “BP has a great safety record” thing.
Both reinforce the perception that Perry will let industry get away with anything, that Perry cannot be trusted as a defender of public health and safety when it comes to big industry.
He said what? “Historically BP has a great safety record?”
Okay..okay…WTF?
This is just since 2005.
March 2005 – Texas City explosion kills 15 and injures dozens.
July 2005 – Thunder Horse rig takes on water in the ballast tanks after being improperly safed in preparation for Hurricane Dennis and nearly sinks in the Gulf.
September 2005 – OSHA issues a record fine ($21M) following Texas City blast.
April 2006 – OSHA issues $2.4M fine for “egregious” violations at Toledo, OH refinery.
October 2009 – OSHA sets new record with $87M fine for failing to adequately address the practices agreed to in 2005 Texas City fine settlement.
February 2010 – Sent a letter by 19 members of Congress to address concerns that shortcuts were taken in effort to get Atlantis deep water rig in production, things like 7000 incomplete or unapproved engineering drawings.
March 2010 – OSHA issues $3M fine for continuing problems at Toledo Refinery
April 2010 – Drilling rig Deepwater Horizon explodes in gulf killing 11 and creating an oil slick the size of Delaware
Would Governor Coyote Slayer like to guess which oil company was involved in each of these incidents?