Two former Interior secretaries – including former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne – told Congress Tuesday they did not anticipate an accident as large as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
But Kempthorne and Gale Norton say no one else did either – including members of Congress who are now blaming the Bush administration for failing to prevent the tragedy.
Kempthorne, who served as Interior secretary from 2006 to January 2009, while George W. Bush was president, said he did not recall being asked at his confirmation hearing or in later congressional testimony about major oil spills.
In fact, Kemthorne said, the opposite occurred. In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he recalled being pointedly asked why Interior wasn’t doing more to expand offshore energy development, not less.
Norton, who served from 2001 to 2006, also under the second President Bush, said the industry had a remarkable safety record, including during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. (AP)
