I’m at the Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on liability and the BP spill this morning, where senators are hearing testimony on how to ensure that the oil giant covers all the costs associated with the Gulf disaster.
Senate Democrats have put forward a bill to raise the liability cap to $10 billion. This would be significantly higher than the current cap of $75 million, set under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, though it still might be well below the estimated $14 billion in costs expected to accrue in the Gulf spill. Senate Democrats have tried twice to bring up the measure under unanimous consent, but were twice blocked — first by Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and then by James Inhofe (R-Okla.).
I’ll be live-tweeting the event below.
