Jackson Free Press

While testifying before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform this morning, Gov. Haley Barbour said that despite the impact of the 2010 oil disaster on Mississippi's beaches and economy, he opposes the federal government's moratorium on off-shore drilling.

U.S. Rep Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, asked Barbour if he thought a current federal mandate requiring oil companies to prove their ability to cap a well before they can drill should be repealed. Cummings said that despite BP's efforts, the oil company was not able to stop last year's spill for 87 days even though they had previously claimed they could do so.

"Superficially that's a reasonable statement that you have just made," Barbour responded about the federal requirement. "How it is enforced and regulated is something of which I am ignorant of. What I do know is that we have had more than 31,000 wells drilled in the Gulf of Mexico in my life. This is the only time anything like this, anything vaguely like this, has ever happened."

Cummings said after seeing the economic and environmental impact of the spill, he felt it was important that oil companies needed to prove that they could stop another spill from occurring.

Watch Barbour's testimony here.

Previous Comments

ID

163734

Comment

I don't think the risk to Mississippi's Citizens - economic and health - is worth the small, if any, reward. We have other options that are not as likely to cause extreme damage to our state.

Author

BobbyKearan

Date

2011-06-03T06:44:45-06:00