In a Times Picayune story written by Staff Writer Bob Marshall titled. "The Tipping Point" was on target relating the story of Charter Captain Ryan Lambert and his battle with BP to be compensated for damage to his business resulting from the BP oil spill. Part of the head line of that story was Mr. Lambert trusted oil companies and was skeptical of environmentalists. The story in the opening paragraph says Ryan Lambert can distill his opinion of BP and the oil industry down to one word: liars.
Readers of politidose know from my past commentaries on the oil industry I came to that same conclusion years ago. It seems like it took a disaster like the BP spill to hit Mr. Lambert in the pocket book to realize the oil industry lies. Yet in the same story Mr. Lambert speaks about coastal erosion being a real problem. Because of the business Mr. Lambert is in he certainly had seen first hand the erosion problem, the destruction of wet lands and marsh and other environmental problems caused by oil industry operations. Mr. Lambert surely also witness first hand that the oil industry has not cleaned up their mess and restored the land like it was before the oil industry changed all that. I am surprised it took Mr. Lambert so long to come to his conclusion about BP and the oil industry.
If more people in the business Mr. Lambert is in would have spoken up years ago our environment in Louisiana would be a better place for all concerned. I applaud Mr. Lambert for speaking up now and telling his story. It needs to be told. It is my hope that Mr. Lambert receives the compensation that is due him for his losses. I have a gut feeling Mr. Lambert wishes he would have spoken up earlier.
