Senator Edward Markey - BP Spillcam
Senator Edward J. Markey, a consumer champion and national leader on energy, environmental protection and telecommunications policy, has a prolific legislative record on major issues across the policy spectrum and a deep commitment to improving the lives of the people of Massachusetts and our country. Whether the issue is climate change, clean energy, safeguarding privacy, nuclear non-proliferation, investor protection or preserving an open Internet that spurs competition and consumer choice, Senator Markey stands up for the priorities and values of Massachusetts. Senator Markey was a leading voice in the investigation into the BP oil spill. He insisted that the company reveal the true size of the spill’s flow rate, raised concerns about the use of toxic chemical dispersants into the environment and forced BP to make live video footage of the oil spill available to the public on the “Spillcam” website he created. BP ultimately pled guilty to 14 counts, including one count of Obstruction of Congress for making false and misleading statements and withholding information and documents from then-Rep. Markey about the true size of the spill.
Markey has a long history of standing up to powerful special interests, including polluters, the gun lobby and opponents of affordable health care and a woman’s right to choose. For his environmental protection efforts, Markey has been endorsed by Clean Water Action, League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club, 350 Action and the National Wildlife Federation. Markey led the fight to hold BP accountable after the deadly Deepwater Horizon explosion that led to the worst oil spill in U.S. history. He forced BP to make a live feed of the underwater oil spill available to the public, shining a light on BP’s lies about the extent of the spill and the damage being done. Markey’s “spill cam” constant video feed led scientists to determine that BP was drastically understating the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf. BP later pled guilty to eleven felony counts for its reckless behavior that resulted in the deaths of eleven workers on the Deepwater Horizon.“Ed Markey led the fight in congress to hold BP accountable for its devastating oil disaster, forcing its executives to put the ‘spillcam’ online, come clean with the American people about more than 60,000 barrels of oil spilling into the Gulf each day and plead guilty to numerous felony charges related to the oil rig explosion that killed 11 innocent workers,” said Markey campaign spokeswoman Giselle Barry. “In the Senate, Ed Markey will continue to stand up to industry executives that try to skirt federal laws, repeal billion-dollar tax breaks for Big Oil and take a back seat to no one when it comes to making polluters pay.”
Social Media:
Website – markey.senate.gov
Twitter – @EdMarkey
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