Big Oil's $1 Billion Rapid Response Venture: Too Little, Too Late

Here's one illuminating statistic: the spill may cost Gulf Coast communities $22.7 billion in tourism losses alone, according to research compiled by Oxford Economics USA, the LA Times reported.

And also note the 'late awareness' of the major oil companies drilling in the Gulf regarding the need for a systematic, coordinated effort to address spills. Suddenly, Big Oil has learned that, yes, a spill in the Gulf is a risk, and that a deepwater leak has the capacity to become an environmental catastrophe, like BP's has. This, Big Oil has concluded, just recently, despite the fact that companies have been drilling offshore and in the Gulf for decades.

Energy Analysis: In sum, the joint-venture rapid-response team, like BP's spill containment plan, is woefully inadequate and decades late. Further, it won't be nearly enough to satisfy Congress' new regulations and oversight for a sector that sorely needs it -- and for a U.S. public that will demand it. A tax or surcharge on oil/natural gas companies to establish a $100 billion environmental hazard intervention fund would be a good first step.

Republicans in Congress will, as usual, support the oil industry, but it won't work this time, as the massive spill of oil into the Gulf has demonstrated that the federal government must implement regulations and safeguards to protect the thousands of miles of irreplaceable U.S. coastline.