Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) became emotional during a hearing Thursday on the BP oil spill, forcing him to cut off remarks before the panel.
The congressman shed a tear, became choked up and eventually stopped his remarks. He left the committee room after he could not continue. Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) comforted Melancon before he departed the room.
The spill, the result of an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico last month, has resulted in a continuous seepage of oil from an underground pipe. Some of the oil has washed up on Louisiana's shoreline and severely affected the commercial fishing industry there.
Melancon serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Energy and Environment subcommittee, which held a hearing on the spill Thursday.
The third-term lawmaker is challenging Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), and the spill has been a hot-button issue on the campaign trail.
New efforts are needed to end the "hanky-panky" between oil companies
and the agencies that regulate them, a top House Democrat said Thursday.
Rep.
Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee, said that efforts should be made to ensure
the recruitment of more independent employees into regulatory agencies.
"We
have to look at these relationships in these agencies and the people,
because there's just too much hanky-panky," Towns said during an
appearance on MSNBC.
The man in charge of the response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
stopped short Thursday of calling the latest effort to stop the leak a
"success."
Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is the national
incident commander in response to the spill, stressed that BP's "top kill"
procedure to cap its damaged undersea well is continuing.
"It is ongoing," Allen said after repeatedly being asked if the maneuver was a success.
BP had noted signs of success earlier in the day, though it was
forced this afternoon to temporarily stop the pumping of heavy drilling
mud into the leaking well 5,000 feet below the surface.
"I want to be perfectly clear here:
They're pumping the mud into the well bore. As long as the mud is going
down, the hydrocarbons are not coming up," Allen explained. The goal
is to put enough mud into the well bore to produce zero pressure, which will allow the well to be plugged, he said.
"So, while I said the hydrocarbons have stopped, that does not mean the exercise is over," he added.
The
procedure is the most dramatic attempt to end the leak that has spewed millions of gallons into the Gulf of Mexico
during the past month and threatens the ecology and economies of Gulf
states.
New efforts are needed to end the "hanky-panky" between oil companies and the agencies that regulate them, a top House Democrat said Thursday.
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said that efforts should be made to ensure the recruitment of more independent employees into regulatory agencies.
"We have to look at these relationships in these agencies and the people, because there's just too much hanky-panky," Towns said during an appearance on MSNBC.
Democrats have said that too many former employees of oil companies dominate agencies like the Minerals Management Service (MMS), whose director resigned Thursday over her handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
But Democrats also say that the cozy relationship between industry and regulators is a vestige of the Bush administration.
"And I think now we need to look at different ways and methods to get people with expertise," Towns said. "We need to make sure that we have capable, competent people who are able to go in and make the assessment."
The criticism highlights concerns among drilling supporters that the White House response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could lead to lasting restrictions on offshore access.
“[N]ow is not the time to make long-term policy decisions that could severely impact our energy security for decades to come,” said Karen Alderman Harbert, CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has caused a sharp shift in public opinion about environmental protection, Gallup finds.
In March, Americans favored prioritizing energy production over environmental protection by 50 percent to 43 percent.
A new poll released today found those numbers have more than reversed: 55 percent now prioritize the environment, compared to 39 percent for energy production.
The Obama administration is suspending 33 active deepwater oil-and-gas drilling projects in the Gulf of Mexico in addition to extending a freeze on permits for new drilling projects.
President Barack Obama announced the suspension at a White House press conference Thursday about offshore drilling oversight and the administration’s response to the BP oil spill.
President Obama said today he wasn't sure whether the director of the Minerals Management Service was fired or resigned.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said this morning that Director Liz Birnbaum had resigned of her "own volition," though other reports suggested she was forced out.
"I found out about her resignation today," Obama said. "Ken Salazar has been in testimony throughout the day. So I don't know the circumstances in which this occurred."
Pressed later on whether Birnbaum had been fired, Obama responded, "I don't know."
MMS has come under criticism for being too cozy with the companies it was supposed to regulate, including BP.
Obama said his administration had not acted quickly enough to change the culture of the agency.
"Absolutely I take responsibility for that. There wasn't sufficient urgency in terms of the pace of how those changes needed to take place," he said, but added that "there's no evidence that some of the corrupt practices that had taken place earlier took place under the current administration's watch."
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