Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Rubio: All BP spill fines should go to Gulf states
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
Associated Press
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. --
Sen. Marco Rubio said he opposes a plan that would give Gulf coast
states 80 percent of the fines stemming from the 2010 oil spill because
the other 20 percent will be cut up and spent elsewhere, a position
that drew loud applause from a crowd in this Gulf coast city that was
hit by a drop in tourism during and after the spill.
The Senate voted in March to approve directing 80 percent of the fines to restoration in five Gulf Coast states. The House passed a similar version and the differences still need to be worked out. Rubio said he hopes the House changes the bill so that all the money goes to Gulf states.
"Senators from other states come to us and say, 'Well, we'll go ahead and pass this bill where we'll let you keep some of the BP oil spill money, but only if you agree to allow us to get some of that money for the Great Lakes, for California, for other parts of the country that have nothing to do with the oil spill,'" Rubio said.
He called that idea ridiculous and said part of the problem with Washington is that other members of Congress are trying to get their hands on the expected billions of dollars that BP PLC will pay in fines.
"If the fine is due to an oil spill that happened in the Gulf, why is any of that money, why is a single penny of that money going to some other part of the country? So people came to me and said, 'Well that's just the way things are here. You're just gonna have to accept that. You're just gonna have to go along with it, otherwise no one's going to get anything,'" Rubio said. "I can't accept that. I feel like the minute I start accepting that kind of stuff is the minute I become like them."
The crowd at the event hosted by the Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce gave him extended applause.
Rubio was the only senator from any of the Gulf states to oppose the provision that's part of a larger transportation bill. Overall 22 senators, all Republicans, voted against it.
The Senate voted in March to approve directing 80 percent of the fines to restoration in five Gulf Coast states. The House passed a similar version and the differences still need to be worked out. Rubio said he hopes the House changes the bill so that all the money goes to Gulf states.
"Senators from other states come to us and say, 'Well, we'll go ahead and pass this bill where we'll let you keep some of the BP oil spill money, but only if you agree to allow us to get some of that money for the Great Lakes, for California, for other parts of the country that have nothing to do with the oil spill,'" Rubio said.
He called that idea ridiculous and said part of the problem with Washington is that other members of Congress are trying to get their hands on the expected billions of dollars that BP PLC will pay in fines.
"If the fine is due to an oil spill that happened in the Gulf, why is any of that money, why is a single penny of that money going to some other part of the country? So people came to me and said, 'Well that's just the way things are here. You're just gonna have to accept that. You're just gonna have to go along with it, otherwise no one's going to get anything,'" Rubio said. "I can't accept that. I feel like the minute I start accepting that kind of stuff is the minute I become like them."
The crowd at the event hosted by the Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce gave him extended applause.
Rubio was the only senator from any of the Gulf states to oppose the provision that's part of a larger transportation bill. Overall 22 senators, all Republicans, voted against it.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/01/2777694/rubio-all-bp-spill-fines-should.html#storylink=cpy
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Is gulf seafood safe?
Gulf seafood could hurt people years from now. A new report from the environmental group the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) alleges that because of the oil spill, eating seafood from the Gulf can increase the risk of cancer for children and the unborn babies of pregnant women.
“What the chemicals in oil do is they damage chromosomes, interact with DNA, cause cell mutations (and) can increase the risk or cause various cancers,” said Dr. Gina Solomon, Senior Scientist with the NRDC. She added, “the specific issues seen in the babies exposed to these kinds of oil contaminants are DNA damage, low birth weight and growth defects, in utero.”
The Food and Drug Administration vehemently denies the findings of the NRDC report. “The seafood from theGulf of Mexico is safe to consume for all consumers including pregnant women and children,” says Robert Dickey, Director of the FDA’s Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory.
Dickey maintains that the NRDC’s conclusions were based on faulty calculations, adding, “the amount of seafood that somebody would have to eat would be the equivalent to sixty-three pounds of shrimp, or five pounds of oyster, or nine pounds of fin fish every day for five years before they would exceed levels to be concerned of. That’s how low the residues are in the seafood.”
The Food and Drug Administration vehemently denies the findings of the NRDC report. “The seafood from theGulf of Mexico is safe to consume for all consumers including pregnant women and children,” says Robert Dickey, Director of the FDA’s Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory.
Dickey maintains that the NRDC’s conclusions were based on faulty calculations, adding, “the amount of seafood that somebody would have to eat would be the equivalent to sixty-three pounds of shrimp, or five pounds of oyster, or nine pounds of fin fish every day for five years before they would exceed levels to be concerned of. That’s how low the residues are in the seafood.”
Thursday, November 10, 2011
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