NRDC leader: BP fine just 'step one'

News
November 14, 2012
Andrew Restuccia
 
BP's agreement to pay a record $4.5 billion penalty for the 2010 oil spill should be “step one” in the company’s efforts to repair its damage to the Gulf of Mexico, a top environmental leader said Thursday.
 
Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke, speaking at an "Energy and the Presidency" forum hosted by POLITICO, said BP still needs to resolve the civil penalties it will pay. She also called for additional offshore drilling reforms in Congress.
 
“This is an important step forward holding BP accountable, and I’m very happy to see it,” said Beinecke, who was a member of the national commission that investigated the spill.
 
She continued: “I think there’s a tremendous amount of work to be done on the environmental and public health side.”
 
American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard, who also spoke on the panel, said the settlement will “bring closure” to those affected by the spill, but he added that “there will be some who will never be happy” with the settlement.
 
The panelists agreed that the election had little effect on the settlement.
 
“I think before or after the election, I have to believe in the process and that it’s not politicized,” said Karen Harbert, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy.
 
“I think these kind of issues are largely outside of the political process,” said Jeff Holmstead, a former EPA official.