Sam Granato on Energy & Oil

Increased liability for oil companies involved in disasters

Mike Lee recently said he would oppose any effort to raise the liability cap for oil companies above the current $75 million limit. When asked if his position meant that taxpayers would be on the hook to pay for any damage caused in excess of that figure, Lee responded, "Well yeah, probably does."

Granato said he finds the idea of requiring negligent corporations to cover only a small portion of the damage they cause, while simultaneously shuffling the rest of the cost onto taxpayers to be shocking.