President Obama in his Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday night said BP is responsible not just for the environmental clean-up from the massive Gulf oil leak but also must “compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of [the] company’s recklessness.” He is expected to repeat that message in a meeting with top BP officials today.
Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Americans agree that the oil companies involved with the Gulf leak should be required to pay back everyone who lost income because of the oil spill, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Just 17% disagree, and 14% more are not sure.
Americans are slightly less enthusiastic, however, about opening BP up to more lawsuit payouts. Fifty percent (50%) say Congress should change the law so BP can be sued for more money in cases related to the Gulf incident, but 36% oppose such a change in the law. Fifteen percent (15%) are undecided.
The question is will this cost be passed on in higher gas prices and taxpayer funding.
67% of adults believe it is at least somewhat likely the spill could have been prevented if the government did a better job of inspecting offshore oil drilling rigs. Only 24% say it’s not likely the leak could have been prevented if the government handled this properly.
The Seattle Times reports that the rig may have been outside U.S. jurisdiction. “Under international law, offshore oil rigs like the Deepwater Horizon are treated as ships, not real estate. Even though the well spewing millions of gallons of oil from the ocean floor is located in U.S.-protected waters, oil companies are allowed to ‘register’ the rigs that operate there with unlikely places such as the Marshall Islands, Panama and Liberia — reducing the U.S. government’s role in inspecting and enforcing safety and other standards.”
Most voters continue to support offshore oil drilling, but they are becoming increasingly critical of how President Obama and the companies connected to the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico are responding to that environmental crisis. The president is scheduled to address the nation about the oil leak disaster in a nationally televised speech this evening.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 61% of Likely Voters now give the companies associated with the leak – British Petroleum and Transocean – poor ratings for their response to the ongoing problem. That’s up 20 points from two weeks ago and up 33 points from the beginning of May.
Rasmussen Reports also indicates Obama’s approval rating dropped three points to an all-time low of -20 with 24% strongly approving and 44% strongly disapproving of his performance.
No one seems to be investigating why Goldman-Sachs dumped BP stock days before the event leading some to question whether or not it was an inside job. That would give Obama leverage to push for carbon and other taxes on the American people which he did in his speech last night. Apparently, Democrats are disappointed that the Republicans are not taking the bait. Obama and his staff are calling on Congress to pass “climate change” legislation which contains carbon taxes that Kerry has no knowledge of.
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Tags: BP, Carbon Taxes, Death and..., Economy, Energy, Environment, Media, News Item, Oil spill, Polls, Video
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