Petraeus Collapses, Afghanistan Hearing Postponed

By Justin Duckham & Miles Wolf Tamboli-Talk Radio News Service

Cencom Commander General David Petraeus appeared to pass out during a Senate Armed Services hearing on Afghanistan Tuesday.

Petraeus slumped over suddenly during an exchange with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). He seemed to recover several moments later and was escorted from the room. The Committee called a brief recess.

The General returned shortly after and told Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) that he “just got dehydrated,” joking that the incident was not caused by Senator McCain's questioning.

Petraeus fainted shortly after Senator McCain asserted that the General was, "one of America's great heroes."

Despite Petraeus’s return to the witness table and insistence that he was in good health and completely competent to continue the hearing, Levin "overruled" his claims and stated that the Committee would reschedule Tuesday’s meeting for the following day.

Those in attendance applauded as Petraeus departed.

STRONG Plan Could Reduce Oil Dependency By Millions Of Gallons Per Day

by Miles Wolf Tamboli
Talk Radio News Service

Director of New America Foundation's Energy Initiative Lisa Margonelli recently released a new energy initiative that aims to "reduce US oil demand by more than 3 million barrels a day by 2020."

Secure Transportation Reducing Oil Needs Gradually, or STRONG America 2020, hopes to reduce American dependence on oil without new technology, vehicles or fuels.

"[STRONG America 2020] doesn't use any alternative fuels or alternative vehicles ... we have some perverse incentives built into our system for using energy and for purchasing energy in the US, and it addresses those, and it also encourages energy efficiency," Margonelli told Talk Radio News in an interview.

Margonelli said that Americans do not pay the true price of gasoline at the pumps, but through taxing, which goes toward oil subsidies, military costs of maintaining shipping lanes and health care.

The energy expert told Talk Radio News that she supports the controversial "behavior change legislation."

"It would give people a clear reason and a sense that they can plan and be empowered to actually do something about the amount of gasoline and oil that we use as a country," said Margonelli. She explained that the STRONG tax, which will add three cents per gallon to the cost of gasoline at the pump each year, reaching 30 cents by 2020, could save 450 million barrels of oil each year and raise $5.5 billion for improving the transportation sector.

Margonelli hopes for the improvement of existing transportation options for optimum efficiency, and for increased incentives for carpooling and ride-sharing. She believes that reassigning oil subsidies into secured loans will directly benefit many Americans.

"What we need to do is to move $5 to $10 billion [from oil subsidies] away from the oil industry and make those subsidies into secured loans or loans to middle-income Americans to get more efficient cars," Margonelli said.

According to the New America Foundation executive, the eventual saving of 3 million barrels of oil a day will liberate a great deal of American capital, which can then be recycled into the economy.

House Debates Removing BP's $75 Million Liability Cap

By Miles Wolf Tamboli - Talk Radio News

As the crisis in the Gulf Coast continues, lawmakers are debating either raising oil companies' $75 million dollar liability cap - some say as high as $10 billion dollars - or removing the cap altogether.

"It is clear that the liability caps must be adjusted, and in some instances lifted altogether," U.S. Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee during a hearing on the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, Wednesday.

OPA 90, as the act is commonly called, requires responsible oil companies to pay for all cleanup costs in the event of a spill. However, the law provides that entities such as BP may only be billed up to $75 million dollars to remunerate private parties for losses incurred, in addition to cleanup costs.

Some lawmakers expressed a fear that removing the liability cap could make insurance unaffordable for smaller companies; however, many advocate a tiered approach to financial liability that would base the cap rate on the risk of each company's operations, and not on the size of the company itself.

Perelli did not agree with many in Washington who believe that new legislation reducing or deleting liability caps should apply retroactively, so as to apply to BP's still gushing Deepwater Horizon leak.

OPA 90 left room for interpretation in asserting that the liability cap will not apply in the case of "gross negligence or willful misconduct," and failed to define these terms. Lawmakers, including Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS) pushed for a clearer definition of these terms in developing new legislation.

Taylor questioned Acting Minerals Management Service Director Bob Abbey on the MMS' history of negligence in monitoring and evaluating drilling operations and granting of "categorical exemptions," presenting information that the MMS failed to conduct 16 "monthly" inspections of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the past four years.

Abbey responded to questioning by saying that he was not there "to defend past practices of the Minerals Management Service."

Despite Effects Of Spill, Deceased Workers' Wives Say Keep Drilling

By Miles Wolf Tamboli - Talk Radio News

Natalie Roshto and Courtney Kemp, wives of workers killed in the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on April 20th, told a Congressional panel Monday that the U.S. should continue to allow off-shore drilling, despite the impact of the massive oil spill in the Gulf Coast.

"While we realize we are suffering from economic impacts resulting from the leaking oil, it would be even more devastating if you allow drilling in the Gulf to cease," Kemp of Jonesville, Louisiana said. "The trickle-down effect would be devastating not only to the coastal states, but eventually the entire country."

"Many men depend on offshore drilling. That is our way of life," added Roshto of Liberty, Mississippi.

The widows' remarks came during a field hearing of a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee in Chalmette, Louisiana.

The opinions of both were echoed by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who sits on the subcommittee.

"The ban on drilling threatens to pose an economic disaster on [Louisiana]," said Scalise. "You don't hold an entire industry accountable for the failures of one [company]."

Environmental Expert Warns Of Health Threats In Gulf Region

By Miles Wolf Tamboli - Talk Radio News

A House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee held a field hearing Monday on the "Local Impact of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill" in Chalmette, Louisiana. During the hearing, environmental experts offered up to date information on how the spill will affect human health in the region.

The use of dispersants and the fumes created by burning oil off the surface of the water have created "crude oil aerosols," which "have resulted in health impacts including headaches, nausea, respiratory impacts, irritation to eyes, nose, throat and lungs and asthma attacks," according to Wilma Subra, a leading environmental scientist and president of the Subra Company.

"BP ... failed to provide adequate protective gear to the fishermen [and] workers exposed to the crude oil and the workers experienced health impacts," Subra said. "The workers were afraid to speak up due to the potential to lose their jobs. Those fishermen who attempted to wear respirators while working were threatened to be fired by BP."

In addition to the health effects, Subra said that attempts to mitigate the massive oil spill have also negatively impacted the local ecology.

"The actions have had detrimental impacts to the water column, sediment, biota and wetland areas by dispersing the crude oil into the water column, sediments and wetland areas," Subra explained. "The dispersing of the crude oil also has resulted in a much larger area of impact in the Gulf of Mexico than has been covered by the surface crude oil spill."