Officials spread false 'not a drop spilled after Katrina' talking point in support of offshore oil drilling Nick Langewis

Published: Wednesday July 16, 2008





Print This Email This Former Senator turned energy lobbyist Trent Lott (R-MS) falsely claimed, during a Tuesday MSNBC appearance in support of drilling for oil offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, that Hurricane Katrina didn't cause oil spills. "We didn't have one drop of oil [spilled] when we had the biggest hurricane in recent history, Hurricane Katrina," Lott said on Tuesday. "I think that the American people," he added, "are saying 'Look, do whatever is necessary, do it all, and do it now.'" Former Senator and lobbyist John Breaux, a Democrat hailing from the gulf state of Louisiana, said that opponents of offshore drilling should reconsider. "We've shown that for the last sixty years you can do it safely, you can develop all natural domestic resources here in the United States, and it can be done safely." Oil spills, in fact, numbered over 100 in the hurricane's aftermath, plaguing New Orleans and nearby areas and also contaminating the Mississippi River. The Coast Guard, MSNBC itself reported in September of 2005, estimated that 7 million gallons of oil, between 44 separate facilities around southeastern Louisiana, had been spilled as a result of the storm. Hurricane Ivan had caused spills out of offshore platforms in 2004, and while satellite photos were said by advocacy group SkyTruth to have revealed 7,000 square miles of oil slicks floating in the Gulf after Katrina, the Coast Guard's Capt. Frank Paskewich disputed it. "As for now, I am confident that we have no received any reports of significant oil spills offshore," he told Reuters. On Monday, Nancy Pfotenhauer, energy lobbyist and senior energy adviser to Arizona Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain, told MSNBC's David Schuster that "we withstood Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, and we didn't spill a drop." In the past month, the same talking point has been spread by government officials such as Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Senator McCain, and Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. A video compilation appears below: More MSNBC footage is available at Crooks and Liars.