There should be no cap on liability for oil spills. why?
~ Roedy (born: 1948-02-04 age: 64)
- If there is a cap, any red-blooded corporation will maximise profit by reducing expenditure on safety. They are required to maximise profit by law. It is cheaper just to let the accidents happen.
- Some say unlimited liability will put “Mom & Pop” (as if there were such a thing) drilling companies out of business because they can’t afford the risk. That is a Good Thing™ Capitalism is supposed to clear out incompetent players.
- Capitalism is supposed to make customers shoulder the cost of production, not unrelated taxpayers.
- A cap artificially lowers oil prices and interferes with the proper functioning of the energy markets. A cap effectively subsidises dirty oil relative to green energy — the very opposite of what we want to do.