So, I receive this from Sen. Leahy today, as follows:
Dear …….
Figuratively speaking, what BP has done to the communities and ecology of the Gulf Coast is downright criminal.
Eleven workers lost their lives in the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. Countless more have lost their livelihoods. The environmental devastation to marine life and coastal wetlands is unfathomable.
Yet under current law, if a jury finds BP criminally negligent, the company would not necessarily have to pay any restitution to the victims of the spill — not even to the families of rig-workers who perished or to the fishermen put out of work. Furthermore, criminal penalties are currently too lenient to adequately deter corporate wrongdoers from authorizing risky schemes that damage the environment.
That’s why this week I introduced the Environmental Crimes Enforcement Act (ECEA) to make restitution for violations of the Clean Water Act mandatory and increase criminal sentences for violators.
Urge your members of Congress to support the Environmental Crimes Enforcement Act (ECEA) to start treating preventable environmental catastrophes as serious criminal acts.
This legislation takes important steps towards deterring criminal conduct that leads to environmental and economic catastrophe.
Too often, big oil companies treat criminal fines and penalties as a mere cost of doing business. But passing ECEA would change all that, sentencing corporate wrongdoers to serious prison time and mandating restitution payments be made to the victims of corporate malfeasance.
So please, take a moment to support this important legislation by clicking here.
I fully support lifting the miniscule $75 million liability cap on corporations responsible for environmental disasters like the Deepwater Horizon spill, but I believe we must also go further to treat such acts as serious crimes against our communities, our economy, and our environment.
If you agree, please support the Environmental Crimes Enforcement Act (ECEA) today.
Thank you for taking action to hold corporate wrongdoers accountable and ensure something like this never happens again.
Sincerely,
Patrick Leahy