This is good to hear, though as the NYT's Campbell Robertson points out, it's unlikely to have any immediate practical impact because there any expansion of drilling wouldn't have happened for years anyway:
A senior adviser to President Obama said the government would not allow any new offshore drilling until an investigation was conducted into the spill and whether it could have been prevented. The deadly explosion on an offshore oil rig last week and the resulting spill have complicated Mr. Obama’s recently announced plans to expand offshore oil and gas drilling, with some politicians and environmental advocates calling on the president to halt any planned expansions until more safeguards are put into place against future disasters.
Speaking on ABC’s "Good Morning America," David Axelrod, the senior adviser, said that "no additional drilling has been authorized and none will until we find out what happened here." But his announcement would not have any immediate effect because drilling in newly opened areas was not likely to take place for years.
I think it's worth reiterating a key point from yesterday: one of the most important ways to prevent spills like this from happening in the future is making sure that BP is held accountable for the full costs of the rescue, cleanup, and recovery. No bailout for BP. If oil companies want to pocket enormous profits, they must also take responsibility for the risks.
Fortunately, President Obama shares this view, which he reiterated today:
As I said yesterday, BP is ultimately responsible under the law for paying the costs of response and cleanup operations, but we are fully prepared to meet our responsibilities to any and all affected communities. And that’s why we’ve been working closely with state and local authorities since the day of the explosion.
Even though BP is legally on the hook for paying these expenses, you've got to figure that at some point the administration will come under enormous pressure from BP lobbyists who will ask the public to foot the bill. There will be only one acceptable response: BP must pay the cost of cleaning up and recovering from its own mess. If it can't afford the bill, well, then that's why we have bankruptcy laws. That's capitalism.
Join the discussion in brooklynbadboy's recommended diary on this topic, Breaking: Obama Temporarily Bans all New Offshore Drilling.
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Greenpeace image of spill containment effort
