Earlier this month, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced legislation in the Senate that would amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require oil polluters to pay the full cost of oil spills, raising the liability cap from $75 million to $10 billion. If passed, the law would be retroactive to April 15, 2010, and so would cover the current Gulf oil spill, which took place on April 22.
Senator Menendez has some heavy hitters in the Senate signed on to the bill, including fellow New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg. Companion legislation is also moving through the House, sponsored by New Jersey Congressman Rush Holt (D-12th district); Congressman Frank Pallone (D-6th district, NJ) is a co-sponsor.
Even before the massive disaster in the Gulf, Menendez and Lautenberg have been vocal in their opposition to offshore drilling. At the end of March, the Obama administration announced plans to open up the Atlantic seaboard as far north as Delaware to offshore drilling. Menendez said that he has let the administration know that "off-shore drilling is a non-starter" for him. Senator Lautenberg has also expressed concerns about the threat that such endeavors pose to New Jersey beaches and the tourism trade.
Read the complete story at The Newark Progressive Examiner.