Congress Kisses Cousteau, Then Betrays Him

“Never before has the marine environment been as raped and poisoned at it is today.” – Jacques Cousteau

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing the upcoming 100th birthday of Jacques Yves Cousteau. Cousteau died back in 1997, so he didn’t have the opportunity to see this honor, or its hypocrisy.

Cousteau regarded the oceans as a treasure too valuable to sacrifice to the drive for industrial power. He personally led efforts to oppose offshore drilling for oil.

The U.S. House of Representatives, however, even in the face of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, almost two months old now, has refused to act to restrict offshore drilling. Yes, U.S. Representatives are eager to express outrage, but what have they actually done to protect us from the dangers of offshore drilling for oil?

A resolution honoring an undersea explorer who is 13 years dead doesn’t cut it. Congress has the chance to pass H.R. 5248, the No New Drilling Act, which would restore the moratorium on the expansion of areas where offshore drilling can take place. So far, only a handful of members of Congress have moved to support that legislation.

Congress honors Cousteau with one hand, and punches him in the face with the other.