Possible payoff from the Gulf Coast oil spill?
Business Times - 11 May 2010 Possible payoff from the Gulf Coast oil spill? Obama could press for an energy bill and its cap-and-trade provisions more strongly now By LEON HADAR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT FIVE years ago when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, then president George W Bush was criticised for waiting much too long to act. The Bush administration had failed to provide the kind of decisive leadership required for dealing effectively with an emergency, said Democratic lawmakers and media commentators. That negative assessment was magnified by media images of Mr Bush presenting a birthday cake to Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona in Phoenix on exactly the same day the hurricane hit. Indeed, Mr Bush's handling of the 2005 disaster - which resulted in the death of 1,800 people and caused close to US$100 billion in damage - turned out to be the lowest point in the history of his administration. The debacle of Katrina helped erode much of the remaining support for Mr Bu...