The Deepwater Horizon oil gusher has demonstrated that severe changes in how the U.S. drills for oil are necessary; could this oil disaster be an opportunity for stronger environmental policy?

 

BP’s legal woes are mounting as oil continues to spill into the Gulf of Mexico. Attorney General Eric Holder announced yesterday that federal authorities will open both civil and criminal inquiries into the Gulf Oil spill.

As we learn more about the BP oil leak, there's more that doesn't make sense. It's been almost six weeks since the explosion, which caused the disastrous gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, and many of the public's questions are still unanswered.

Top executives from BP, Transocean and Halliburton – the three companies involved in the massive oil spill that continues to spew in the Gulf Coast – testified on Capitol Hill yesterday, pointing fingers at each other and deflecting blame from their own firms.

Senators were clearly not amused by all the blame game in full swing. "There's this transference of liability, or finger pointing," Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said. "There's going to be plenty of time to figure out who is to blame, who is at fault.”

Last week’s vast oil spill just 50 miles into the Gulf of Mexico is already being called one of the most significant oil spills in U.S History; and yesterday, President Obama and the White House made it clear that they have moved clean up efforts to the top of their priority list.  

When the U.S. Bureau of Land Management auctioned off oil and gas drilling leases in Salt Lake City, Utah last month, some activists stood outside and protested. But Tim DeChristopher, a student at the University of Utah, went one step further. He bid on, and won, $1.7 million dollars worth of land rights. The problem is that he never had any means or intent of paying for it. Some are calling him an environmental hero, others, a criminal. The Takeaway talks to DeChristopher himself about his peculiar act of civil disobedience.

For more, watch this interview with Tim DeChristopher courtesy of YouTube.

In this corner, we have Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke lowering interest to historic lows and in this corner we have the faltering OPEC drastically cutting oil production. Meanwhile, the consumer price index hit a record decline. Not sure how this will pan out? We've got Javier Blas of the Financial Times and Kelly Evans of the Wall Street Journal to coach John and Adaora into the next round of financial right hooks.

Guest: Jad Mouawad, The New York Times, covers the energy industry