It's painfully clear the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could dwarf any environmental disaster in our nation's history. This horrific tragedy has claimed 11 lives and contaminated Gulf waters with millions of gallons of oil. It is still is belching thousands of barrels into the water every day and the oil has now reached the shores of Louisiana. It's impacting the livelihoods of millions in the Gulf Coast states and threatens more. As bad as things are - and may yet become - this disaster will be even more tragic if we fail to learn from it.
The first steps, of course, are to stop the leaks, contain the spill, and attend to the devastating aftermath on the people and their environment. The Obama Administration deserves high marks for its swift response from day one to the BP disaster. It mobilized the government's resources to minimize the harm on the health, economy, and environment of the Gulf Coast. And, as President Obama has made abundantly clear, BP will be held accountable for the costs associated with this tragic event.
But now is also the time to ensure complete scrutiny of this horrible environmental disaster by putting into place an independent, nonpartisan commission to determine exactly what went wrong and to make recommendations to keep it from happening again. That's why I recently introduced The BP Deepwater Horizon Inquiry Commission Act (HR 5241), which would establish a fifteen member panel to conduct a focused investigation into the matter.
Appointed by the President, with input from Congress, the Commission would be comprised of experts in energy production, environmental protection and other relevant fields, as well as officials from the Gulf Coast. It would investigate the cause, response and impacts of the BP disaster, and it would make recommendations on our ability to evaluate and address the risks of offshore drilling. The Commission would also investigate BP and other private companies involved with the spill, as well as the performance of federal and state agencies responsible for oversight of offshore drilling. Finally, the Commission would assess the consequences of the spill and possible future incidents to sensitive and ecologically important areas, as well as the economic impacts to coastal communities.
This panel would serve as an important long-term addition to the Administration's excellent short-term efforts to investigate and respond to the oil spill. Similar commissions have been convened in the past to investigate disasters, including the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island and the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion. Those panels provided valuable insight and important recommendations regarding nuclear issues and space policy. The same result should be expected from a commission to investigate the BP oil spill. And given the recent expansion of deep water drilling and calls for more of it we need to get a better handle on the potentials dangers that lurk in such actions.
I have lived in Santa Barbara since 1966 and saw firsthand the devastating consequences of the blowout on Platform A just a few miles off our coast. That spill dumped millions of gallons of crude oil into the Santa Barbara Channel, killed untold amounts of wildlife and polluted our beaches for years. But is also galvanized a burgeoning environmental movement and spurred the first Earth Day.
Hopefully, an independent commission digging into this current disaster can produce something positive out of this very tragic situation.