After I filed my column today on how to hold President Obama accountable for the BP spill -- essentially, his problem was failure to prevent the crisis, not a lackluster response -- I got two updates.
One criticism I anticipated is that BP might have some incentive to delay their work, perhaps in order to hide their culpability in causing the original spill. But yesterday BP lost 15 percent of its market value -- $21 billion -- on the stock market. While this is all back-of-the-envelope stuff, I find it hard to make a case that BP or its shareholders gain any net benefit from delaying the well closing.
I also got a call back from Daniel Weiss, an energy expert at the Center for American Progress, who agreed with the government's approach to capping the well and said, "The U.S. taking over from BP might feel good, but I think the problem is that BP is the one who've got the expertise to [cap the well]." He did add, however, that there should be greater clarity about how the federal government manages shore and surface cleanup in relation to the responsibilities of the states, local governments, and BP itself.
-- Tim Fernholz
