Graham Appointed to Look Into BP

President Barack Obama announced former Senator Bob Graham will co-chair of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. William Reilly will be the Republican co-chair.

Graham's statement on his appointment.

"This was so important, so immediate and will have such a big impact on Florida," Graham said, adding that, "and if the president asks you to do something, you can't say No."

Obama on his decision to appoint Graham.

Bob served two terms as Florida’s governor, and represented Florida as a United States Senator for almost two decades. During that time, he earned a reputation as a champion of the environment, leading the most extensive environmental protection effort in the state’s history.

Graham's commission will be in charge of reccommending ways to avoid future offshore oil spill disasters. The question is will the commission have any teeth. We now know BP intentionally underestimated the amount of oil leaked into the Gulf. In 2005, 15 workers were killed at a BP refinery. BP told the Minerals Management Service that a spill from an offshore rig 40 miles out would "unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities." We know that is not true.

Graham is a good pick on Obama's part. However, I'm too cynical to think much change will come from the commission.