Senate Hearing on the BP Oil Spill

We had our second hearing observation day today. This time I went to a Senate Hearing on the report to the President from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. This hearing was particularly interesting because it covered the BP oil spill which was a recent, devastating event. Before this hearing, I was wondering what the government and BP had planned to do since the oil spill. Yes BP had capped the leaking oil, but there is still lingering consequences from the spill that must be addressed. The senators in this hearing also had this concern, and wanted recommendations on what actions should now be taken in the aftermath of the devastation. The two witnesses, Senator Bob Graham and Honorable William Reilly Co-Chairs of the Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, stated the need for continued funding and research. Money is needed to conduct research on the environmental impacts of this horrible event both now and many decades from now. We are unable to predict the extent of damage upon the environment because of the spill, therefore research is needed to understand the effects and how to fix what the impact that it had.

Another topic addressed was the United State’s dependency on oil. The senators and witnesses agreed that the deep sea drilling industry has to continue because we are in desperate need of the oil and we get about 31% of our oil from the Gulf. Not only does this industry provide jobs, but it provides the scarce oil that we depend on. With this said, all agreed that there needs to be stricter standards for drilling to prevent such accidents from occurring. They also spoke about United States’ dependency on foreign oil. Because this source is not always reliable and oil is becoming scarcer, the Senators spoke about becoming an independent energy producer. Alternative energy methods need to be developed such as using natural gas and electric. These are better for the environment and are beneficial for the United States becoming independent. Overall, I saw this hearing as a hopeful testimony towards progress. I hope that alternative energy methods can be developed because I believe it would solve much of our problems within the United States and I also hope that the Gulf spill can be adequately addressed to protect our environment and the people that rely on the Gulf. These issues are a great threat facing our nation, so efforts to fix them are critical to us all.