As thousands of gallons of oil continued to pour into the Gulf of Mexico, Tennessee Republican Senator Lamar Alexander grilled top oil executives, but also gave his own suggestions to prevent another environmental catastrophe.
Senator Alexander started his questioning by offering an analogy.
“If you had open heart surgery would you want your doctor 5,000 feet away? No, I wouldn’t either. I’m wondering even the most skilled physician or most skilled operator would have to be very skilled to be always successful at 5,000 feet. Wouldn’t there be substantial less risk with an incident like this with drilling that was not in such deep water?”
An oil executive responded by saying there have been 3,000 wells drilled in deep water and the Gulf accident is the first of its kind. Alexander also questioned why oil regulators do not pay closer attention to nuclear ones.
“The number of persons who have died from a nuclear accident at a commercial plant in the United States is zero. The number of sailors who’ve died in the nuclear navy based upon a nuclear reactor is zero. Is the regulatory responsibility for oil spread too thin?”
Alexander says the incident should spur action to reduce the country’s dependence on oil. He urged his colleagues to support electrifying all cars and trucks.
Reported by Sara Sciammacco .
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