First, big oil MUST recognize that exploring and developing energy resources is a privilege allowed by U.S. taxpayers. As such, the highest safety standards, including security equipment and inspection processes MUST be implemented and adhered to. No excuses, complete transparency. The money to pay for much higher inspection levels will come from increasing the taxes levied on energy production to accomplish two things: 1. Provide funding for an updated safety standards and inspection process, staffed by professionals ONLY, with the ability to establish equipment standards for drilling and development (fail safe systems) and 2. Use an increased level of funding to build the Liability Fund to 20 Billion or more over a five year period (and agree to industry assessments if an incidence occurs that exceeds the liability fund's resources) and smaller assessment thereafter to fund the safety and inspection process. These liability funds are NOT to be general revenue funds in tnhe U.S. Treasury, but are to be invested as a Trust Fund.
The objective is to obtain an end result of a Liability Fund that continues to grow, if not utilized for accident recovery and compensation purposes (and if one or more accidents occur during or after the initial funds are established, it is replenished by the fees and taxes structure), and which funds through taxes and fees the regulatory safety and inspection process.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
No comments:
Post a Comment