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President Obama today promised a full investigation into the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. Obama said the administration will consider whether what has happened amounts to a crime and won't allow new offshore drilling until we know what went wrong.
As Obama spoke, he was flanked by the two co-chairs of the bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. The Republican co-chair, William K. Reilly, has spent a career in the industry he'll now probe. A former chief of the Environmental Protection Agency, Reilly currently serves on the board of directors of:
- ConocoPhillips
- DuPont, which provides technologies for oil and gas extraction
- Energy Future Holdings, a Texas-based electric utility company
Reilly was also a founding partner of Aqua International Partners, an investment group with interest in water and renewable energy.
The PEU Report runs the numbers on what these positions might be worth to Reilly in terms of board compensation and his stockholdings. (Short answer: A lot.)
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Bill Reilly is more than just an oil exec - he helped put together EPA after the abysmal time with Anne Gorsuch. So he's been administrator twice.
Cheney was on the short list, but Liz wants the spotlight and made him decline.
I'm wondering whether we're up against the need for impartiality as well as the need for related expertise. My question: Does David Chiu approve of these appointments?
It's not Chiu's department. Rachel made this same mistake earlier, but oil regulation isn't under the Department of Energy, it's under the Department of the Interior. In fact, very little actual energy funding is under the Department of Energy; over half of their budget goes to nuclear weapon maintenance and cleanup. Every Rachel Maddow fan needs a copy of this: http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes/
Correction: that would be Steven Chiu.
Yes, I'm aware of that but POTUS has put Chiu in charge of bringing the heavy hitting scientific minds to this effort.
BTW just because minerals management has always been in Interior doesn't mean it's logical that it should remain there. After all, we didn't have an Energy Dept. when we first started mining & drilling. We do now, so let's move all of that stuff to Energy where it belongs.
I checked it out. I think it would be nice to see comparisons of years.
I located some on an income tax pamphlet with a pie chart of receipts and expenditures.
I do think it is interesting and able to find more than 2011 year chart/data.
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/108xx/doc10871/historicaltables.pdf
Rachael love your show. I watch your late rerun every day. Love it when you want let these radicals try and wiggle out of answering your questions about some of their views. Keep up the good work.
More importantly Bob Graham is old school DLC. This is extremely disappointing.
Ooo, I'd like some partisanship on this committee.... Dennis Kucinich, anyone? (Yes, I know I probably spelled his last name incorrectly, and I may not even have the right chamber of Congress, but a girl can dream, can't she?)
Or how about Al Gore? How about someone not involved in campaign fund raising? Sigh....
I, too, was thinking, naming VP Gore to spearhead some aspect of this craptastrophe would be an extremely good move.
Seems to me like a great interview with Mr. Reilly should be in Rachel's show! Maybe treat him like a boy coming to date your daughter...
Or treat him like a parolee predator who has been emailing your daughter from his prison cell.
Here's a great "progressive" idea... put some foaming @!$%#ed up ideologue liberal on this probe committee who wouldn't know light sweet crude from light sweet melodies... Give the man some credit, you foamers.
You Know, Jeb Bush Reigned for such a Long Time here in Florida, so I Really Forgot about Bob Graham. But According to my Dad, no offense, but he thinks Bob Graham was Pretty Much Useless and Never Really Did Anything for Florida
Diana
No offense either, but your dad is an idiot.
But I am Glad that the Media is Moving to the Next Level and Graduating to the Next Stage of this Disaster.
I don't mean to be negative, I really don't, but listening to all of the Talk Shows this Previous Weekend ( all with experts= Edward Mackey, Carol Browner, etc )= the Only Conclusion I've come to is, This is the Worst Disaster Ever and We Have to Deal with it one way or the other.= and it's Not Getting Any Better!
But= I Do Hope that BP Is Fully Held Accountable! Now, I did see a Comment on Twitter= ( if BP is Found to be Totally Negligent, then that Cap of $75 Million Does Not Apply)???
Diana
Diana,
reading through the pre-show homework, specifically the Oil Pollution Act, I think that the cap of $75 Million never did apply
(Emphasis mine)
I'm no lawyer, but that reads to me that they are liable for $350 million which is a damn site better than $75 million...
I hope that BP, Haliburton and Transocean are taken to the cleaners over this, there is so much that is dodgy about the way that they have all acted, the flag of convenience, the finger pointing of blame and not having the backbone to stand up to their customer about the procedure for blocking off the well after the drilling was done. imho they should all share the blame for this, and each be liable for the clean up costs and compensation claims.
BTW, I was Referring to Bob Graham when he was Governor, Not Senator! Sorry, I'm Not Ms. Information!
Diana
I love how the report is called the PEU report. It has just the right amount of irony.
Maybe he is craftier than some think and has no qualms about shining the light on these folks? Maybe he thinks a squeeze in the right place with get things moving faster. We'll see.
This is really disingenuous. William Reilly is the former head of the WWF (that's not the World Wresting Federation) that's the World WILDLIFE Foundation. This man, although he's a conservative, is a true green. He's not a liberal, but he was chosen because he's a republican.
Calling him an oil exec, ignores a good meaningful portion of his career. I expected better from you Rachel.
IMOGENFM,
Thanks, I could of sworn I heard that they Haven't Voted on Raising the Cap yet, but I could be Wrong.
But what I saw on Twitter, was the Possibility of a (Legal Loop Hole) = If BP is Charged with Total Negligence, could They Avoid Penalties?
I Know it Sounds Crazy, I thought the Same! I Hope Not! But saw on News tonight that they may be Facing Criminal Charges, and Chris Hayes will be on Tonight to Explain!!
I Hope BP Gets Whats Coming to Them, they Need to Pay!
Diana
Facts please!
Just re-watched the video of what the President said. Knowing that in the past he has repeated many times, that the buck stops at his desk, and that he believes in full accountability including his own.
Let's take him at his word, at least for the next couple of years. Who could jump in and do better?
He is very specific in this speech ... clear as a bell in my ears, point after point. Everybody gets held accountable, just like 'main street' folks.
Not surprised. No, really. Just not surprised at all.
Hi,
Can you please tell me how to contact Rachel with information I come across that may be relevant to the content of the show?
thanks,
amy boynton
contact@amyboynton.com
Same page as how you got here (under Show Archives):
Who would they get but an oil expert to fix an oil problem? I don't think this is a valid criticism of President Obama and people who continue to criticize him for his handling of this crisis should pause a moment and remember the deregulation that set the stage for this disaster occurred on another watch...let's see, Che...Che...oh yeah, that's it, Cheney, and of course, his puppet, "W". Had not this occurred, this thing would have had a blow out protector and the oil spill would be a non-occurrence. Actually, this BP situation is a perfect metaphor for the past 10 years in the U.S.: President Bush was the catastrophe, and now President Obama has to come in and perform mop-up operations on yet ANOTHER of his major "spills" (foul-ups due to deregulation of industries across the board)!!!!! Let's bring anyone to bear on the problem, and put political calculus aside until this stupid thing is stopped by whatever means necessary!
Find myself agreeing with Margaret ... stuff that we are facing has been in the pot brewing for some time.
Obama walks in and finds it has done boiled over. Races to clean up here, then there, then over there, while expected to be on camera 24/7 leading cheers.
I can't imagine anybody else right this minute who could do a better job.
I agree, it is nice to get people on board with the contacts needed to assist here. One thing I know is I want this fixed, I want the responsible people to pay for it. We have tried a few things, it is time to get busy and do the work.
I believe the anger and frustration is because of the time that has passed, the facts that hit us in the face. That we cannot allow businesses to go unregulated, for they will take more short cuts to make more profit, then wham... there it is... the ugly truth. 11 deaths, countless wildlife deaths, waters, shores, careers ruined, unknown future consequences. Can I eat crab or shrimp any more, without wondering?
I wish them well, Obama would be vilified for bailing out BP (etc.) if he had immediately said the government will step in. It is BP, Transocean, Halliburton that are accountable, President Obama has taken another responsibility to implement action plan and use the best minds he can find.
I know nothing about these people, but I know I do not want a cover up and have taxpayers pay for the problems corporations caused through manipulation or negligence.
I am for regulation and not allowing something that wreaks this much havoc to happen. I am against off shore drilling, for alternative clean energy.
Obviously, deep water is not a place to go poking around and fudge on safety standards.
I guess that every time I think that I might have just a little doubt that this administration is but a carryover from the last 30 years, it proceeds to come right (pun intended) along and re-affirm my faith that it is no different than the Bush/Cheney scumbags that are still there in spirit. Just a new list of a******s at the top who's names you have to remember. This has become an incestuous plutocracy that has no interest in the wants and needs of the average citizen of the country.
And for all you Obama whiners out there, don't even bother. I have heard all the excuses and apologetic alibis and ambiguous equivocations that you can save your breath. The only thing that would ever convince me to work for an Obama re-election would be some bold change of direction, starting with the firing of Rahm Emmanuel. Beyond that, I'll go waste my time trying to get a third party elected to take enough votes from Obama to let Sarah be elected. It will serve a double purpose. It will show the country just how bad the Godzilla from Wasilla will be for the country. And to the Democratic Party? Never, ever take the progressive bloc of the party for granted and never, ever tell us to go 'F**k off' again. Ever.
Had to take the time out of my day to let you know how awesome this post is, scarlett. I get beat up routinely by cheerleaders on the HuffPost forums for saying the same exact thing. I agree 110%. We're not alone!
Since the "staffers" will do 99% of the work, they are the ones we should be looking at. Also, for the commission to be credible, there needs to be some oil, as well as scientific, expertise. Former BP R&D employees laid off by the cost-cutting of John Brown era might be excellent staffers as they probably saw how cost-cutting affected safety and production short-cuts.
William Reilly is not an oilman, or an oil executive. Is Al Gore a computer executive because he sits on the board of Apple computer? No, but AG probably knows a lot about the computer business as a result. As a non-oilman sitting on the board of an oil company, Reilly may actually be a good choice for this investigation. Invite him to the Maddow show -- he will be an intelligent guest.
Is Palin for real? Drill baby Drill....how about Jobs baby Jobs. What would she have to say to that. Protect the environment, middle and working class, help the poor move up and help the elderly and disabled. If miss Palin wants to say this is un- american she should re-read her constitution and then because they always slip their christian values in even though we are meant to have seperation of chuch and state she should re-read her bible.
Hey TRMS: just received a reply from the White House after sending my BP Gulf oil disaster recovery proposal. see below:
Fellow Citizens- upon being totally digusted by the situation in the Gulf, I sent this to the White House- pass along, feel free to post on Facebooks, who knows? we got Betty White on SNL!! jm
Message: Proposal to end Gulf Disaster. After three failed attempts of BP engineers to cap the well gushing millions of gallons of cude oil each day into the Gulf of Mexico, can we trust that they will ever resolve the problem? My proposal is threefold: 1)criminal charges be filed against chief officers of BP corp for willful negligence as recently reported my many national publications this weekend. 2)seize all assets of BP in the US to pay for all rescue efforts of the Gulf, environmental destruction and land and wildlife damage that will take years to correct. 3) usurp all scientific and enineering efforts to seal the leaking well by the US Coast Guard and Naval personnel to explore the seismic possibility to create a natural undersea avalanche by exploding charges within adjacent ocean shelves to bury the faulty well for good. I feel I speak for the majority of citizens and the ecological future of our country in stating, WE'VE HAD ENOUGH!!