From his perches on the Natural Resources and Foreign Affairs committees, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. David Rivera is drilling into Cubas plans to explore for energy.
Rivera introduced the Foreign Oil Spill Liability Act of 2011 on Friday which would require foreign organizations to be held financially accountable if their offshore drilling hurts American waters or shorelines. The freshman congressman has repeatedly expressed concerns about Cuban plans to establish oil rigs as close as 50 miles to the shores of the Sunshine State.
Foreign oil spills could have a detrimental effect on state and local economies, hurting American businesses and costing American jobs, Rivera said in a statement released on Monday. This bill seeks accountability from responsible foreign parties, in the event of an oil spill that affects American waters and shores, by ensuring that they pay for all cleanup and compensation costs. While the responsible party is held liable for American-sourced oil spills, there is a much lower level of responsibility for foreign-sourced spills. American taxpayers and state governments should not be footing the bill for cleanup and compensation costs from a foreign oil spill.
As the law stands now, the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund caps liability at $1 billion. Riveras legislation takes aim at the Castro brothers regime in Cuba, calling for penalties and costs to be tripled if the oil spill originates fromone of the four nations currently designated by the U.S. State Department as state sponsors of terror -- Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria.
This bill also seeks to implement stiffer liability and penalties on the responsible party if the oil spill originates in the waters of a state sponsor of terrorism, Rivera said. The Castro regime, that has as much regard for environmental safety as it does for human rights, seeks to drill for oil less than 90 miles off the coast of Florida, posing a direct threat to our states environment and economy. While the White House and the U.S. Department of the Interior help facilitate this drilling, in possible violation of the embargo, I am sponsoring this important piece of legislation to ensure that Florida taxpayers are not made to pay for an environmental disaster caused by a terrorist regime.
Earlier in the year, a fellow Republican in the Florida delegation, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan introduced a measure that would permit the U.S. secretary of the interior to deny drilling leases to companies involved with countries facing trade sanctions. Repsol, a Spanish corporation, has an agreement in place with Cuba to drill off the Florida coast. Rivera is a supporter of Buchanans legislation.
Back in January, Florida Democrat Bob Graham, who served as both governor and in the U.S. Senate, warned in a speech to the Economic Club of Florida in Tallahassee that Cuba plans to launch 14 oil wells just to the north of the island.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
