Governor Bobby Jindal Vetoes Open Records Law For Government Oil Spill Response

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Written By:
Rob Port

Jul 1, 2010
8:10am

If we can demand 100% accountability and transparency from BP and its response to the oil spill clean up, can we not demand the same thing of government?

Jindal’s justification for keep these records a secret is silly. He’s essentially arguing that the records might disclose government incompetence in responding to the disaster.

For more than two months, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has made it clear that he considers the response of the federal government and BP to the gulf oil leak a failure on many fronts.

But elected officials in Louisiana and members of the public seeking details on how Mr. Jindal and his administration fared in their own response to the disaster are out of luck: late last week the governor vetoed an amendment to a state bill that would have made public all records from his office related to the oil spill.

The measure was proposed by Senator Robert Adley, a Republican, and easily passed the Democrat-controlled Legislature. He told the Associated Press that the veto was a “black eye” on the state. “This governor has opposed transparency for the three years he’s been in office,” he said.

In his veto letter, the governor asserted that opening the records could give BP and other companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon blowout an advantage in future litigation over damages to the state.

“Such access could impair the state’s legal position both in responding to the disaster that is unfolding and in seeking remedies for economic injury and natural resource damage,” Mr. Jindal wrote.

Obviously, BP is the culprit for the oil spill and is legally liable for damages and cleanup. But if some government action exacerbated the problem, doesn’t the public deserve to know? At the very least so that we know what not to do in the future? And also, why should BP be on the hook for any additional problems the government may have caused in its response?

Shame on Jindal.