From The New Orleans Times-Picayune's liveblog of a press conference on BP's ongoing oil spill, featuring Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, and Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis:
12:43
Jindal: We're concerned about the subsea application of dispersent. He asked that the entire column be tested. Asked BP to make a long-term commitment to monitoring the water. "You're talking about an impact that could hurt multiple generations of wildlife. These are the ocean's nurseries."
Perhaps I'm the one being naive, but I'm going to assume that Bobby Jindal is being earnest here, and that he really does want to monitor the impact of the dispersant on the Gulf of Mexico ecology. Here's my question: why in the hell would he want BP to be responsible for that monitoring?
It seems pretty clear that BP has an incentive to stop the oil from gushing from the leak. But it is equally clear that BP has every incentive in the world to minimize the impact of the spill, and that means they shouldn't have anything to do with monitoring the aftermath of their malfeasance.
Yes, BP should pay the costs for the monitoring, as they are required to under the law, but they shouldn't be conducting it. If there ever was a perfect example of something that should be the responsibility of the Federal government, this is it.
It's obviously true that there are plenty of things the government shouldn't be responsible for, but it's equally true that there are plenty of things that must not be left in the hands of big corporations. The fact that Jindal doesn't understand this fact is a perfect example of the inadequacy of even well-intentioned conservative thinking.