Sen. Lisa Murkowski (pictured) objected to a voice vote request by Sen. Robert Menendez on the bill. Murkowski blocks oil liability bill

Alaska’s senior senator blocked legislation Thursday that would have dramatically increased liability caps on oil companies, in the wake of one of the industry’s biggest disasters.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) objected to a voice vote request by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on the bill, which would have spiked the maximum liability for oil companies after an oil spill from $75 million to $10 billion. The legislation has significant support from Democrats, and the White House has indicated it backs an increase in liability caps.


But Murkowski said the legislation is “not where we need to be right now” and would unfairly advantage large oil companies by pricing the small companies out of the market. Murkowski did signal that she would be open to "look at the liability cap and consider raising it.” Just not at this moment.

Menendez, speaking to reporters after the bill was halted on the Senate floor, said the opposition indicates that Republicans are on the side of the oil companies, not the American people. There had been no formal floor debate or roll call vote requested on the legislation.

“It’s straightforward, it’s common sense,” Menendez said. “Either you want to fully protect the small businesses, individuals and communities devastated by a man-made disaster — this is not a natural disaster; this is a man-made disaster — or you want to protect multibillion-dollar oil companies from being held fully accountable. Apparently there are some in the Senate who prefer to protect the oil companies.”

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) called the current $75 million liability a “spit in the ocean” for oil disasters and lawmakers.

“You want to make the money? Then pay the bills that come with the kind of devastation that they brought to our coast, our communities, our working people, and let them take some of the money that they’ve made in that quarter and put it up and pay the bills,” Lautenberg said.

The oil industry is vehemently opposed to this legislation. The American Petroleum Institute, in a study released Thursday, said the proposal would result in a shortage of insurance coverage or skyrocketing premiums. Costs for exploring and producing oil would jump 25 percent, the API said, and the proposal “would threaten the viability of deep-water operations, significantly reduce U.S. domestic oil production and harm U.S. energy security.”

Menendez compared the oil industry’s position with that of Wall Street firms, which he said like to make a risky bet and keep the money when it comes through and pass off the risk when it goes bad.

“I find it hard when the top five companies made in three months $25 billion and we’re talking about $10 billion. And so at the rate they’re going, if they keep having quarters like the one they just had, we’re talking about possibly $100 billion a year in profits, not proceeds,” he said. “Ten percent is too much, is going to close down the industry?”