Right Wingers Open To Lifting Cap For Liability To BP? Hold On There, Buddy ...

I read a "rumor" that the Republicans in Congress are now eager to back a raise on the cap of $75 million for the BP oil spill. The reasoning goes that if this does, in fact occur, BP will have no choice but to file for bankruptcy protection -- leaving the clean-up costs, and payouts for the Gulf Coast businesses to the American taxpayer. And, of course, just blowing off the ecological damage to the Gulf that America will probably never ever recover from.

Remember when the Exxon Valdez was given that hefty fine that was eventually reduced to pennies on the dollar after 20 years? Let that be a warning. Oil companies across the globe own America. Drill, baby, drill is not the mantra we should be spouting. Kill, baby, kill is more likely, as the damage done by this man made disaster (let's not get caught up in the right wing meme that this is a natural disaster), could have been prevented but for the bottom line (dollar) that these corporations are squeezing out for their base (shareholders and congresscritters).

And don't get be started on mountain top removal coal mining.

From Ashley Judd:

But the ache I feel for my mountain home is now more than a bittersweet nostalgia accrued through inimitable generations of belonging. There is a searing tear, a gaping wound in the fabric of my life and the lives of all Appalachians. And it gets bigger with every Appalachian mountaintop that is blown up, every holler that is filled, every stream that is buried, every wild thing that is wantonly and recklessly killed, every ecosystem that is diminished, every job that is lost to mechanization, every family that is pitted one against the other by the state-sanctioned, federal government-supported coal industry-operated rape of Appalachia: mountaintop removal coal mining.

H/T to Crooks and Liars.

The Fearful John Shimkus

According to The Wonk Room:

According to a new analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists UCS), Americans can “significantly reduce carbon emissions and lower energy bills” by implementing green economy legislation. In a two-year study, UCS analyzed the economic, emissions, and energy effects of their recommendations for clean energy, clean vehicles, and global warming standards. The UCS approach of comprehensive energy, transportation, and cap policies is similar to that in the American Clean Energy Security Act, released in draft form earlier this month by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA). The analysis finds that by 2030, net household savings will reach $900 a year, while oil use drops 6 million barrels a day and global warming pollution is cut in half.

(see graphic here).

However, one of our illustrious congresscritters has a problem with this, and said this about cap-and-trade programs to limit carbon emissions:

I think this is the largest assault on democracy and freedom in this country that I've ever experienced. I've lived through some tough times in Congress -- impeachment, two wars, terrorist attacks. I fear this more than all of the above activities that have happened.

So Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) fears a greener planet more than 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the impeachment of Bill Clinton? Well, I did need a good laugh this morning, and now I got one.

Clean Coal, My Ass

WASHINGTON — Federal regulations are needed to make sure that ash from coal-fired power plants is stored safely, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said on Thursday as the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on the spill of 1 billion gallons of toxic sludge in East Tennessee.

[snip]

According to the American Coal Ash Association's latest survey, in 2007, coal-fired plants generated 131 million tons of coal ash. The nation's hundreds of coal ash dumps contain millions of pounds of toxic metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury and chromium, which can cause cancer or damage the nervous system and lungs and other organs if people ingest them. The EPA has left regulation up to the states, but it's been debating whether to set national standards.

"For nearly three decades, EPA has been looking the issue of how to regulate combustion waste," Boxer said. "The federal government has the power to regulate these wastes, and inaction has allowed this enormous volume of toxic material to go largely uregulated."

Let's hope that ends the dialogue over the myth of "clean coal."