Congress and the Oil Spill Commission
The report recently issued by the presidential commission appointed to investigate last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may find rough seas ahead, according to this article in the NYT. For example: "'No, that's a bad idea,' Hastings [Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee] said of the suggestion to raise fees on industry to pay for more oversight. 'Listen, the amount of revenue that's coming in from the [outer continental shelf] far exceeds what it costs to regulate that industry. It seems to me that the easiest place if there's going to be more costs -- and I acknowledged there could be more costs involved -- it should come out of existing revenues that are generated with the OCS leasing right now.'"
