In regard to the Federal Government’s Minerals Management Service, Lisa Margonelli, director of the New America Foundations energy initiative, had the following to say:

“Several years ago, the agency considered requiring the installation of relatively inexpensive ($500,000) remote-controlled switches on offshore drilling rigs as a backup mechanism for shutting down spills like the one that’s running out of control today – but decided it wasn’t needed because there were other ways for drillers to cut off their wells.”  (“A Spill of Our Own,” New York Times, May 2, 2010).

As the post preceding this one from Richard Kershenbaum suggests, the oil industry magnates are not going to give a rat’s patooty about the environment and our health.  Furthermore their cozy relationship with our legislators and bureaucrats will insure them relief from any oversight from the agencies that are supposed to protect us.  In the final analysis, the BPs, the EXXONs, the Kochs, the Shells, and the whole damn industry doesn’t care about anything but profits and buying off politicians.