About | Subscribe | RSS

TPM LiveWire

How Long Can Mississippi's Governor Keep Downplaying The Oil Spill?

Eric Lach | June 4, 2010, 1:04PM

Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS)

BP, Gulf Coast Oil Spill, Haley Barbour

Send to a friend!

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) has been a man apart in his low-key response to the catastrophic oil leak still gushing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Barbour, a former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, has consistently insisted that pretty much every reaction to the spill has been an overreaction.

Barbour originally claimed several times that the spill "isn't anything like Exxon Valdez." (He was right, it's much worse.) He has appeared on television and gone out of his way to praise both BP and the government's efforts: "BP has never said no to any request," he told CNN, while "the federal government, whether it's the Coast Guard or whomever, has worked hard with us." And he has compared washed up oil to "caramel-colored mousse" and "toothpaste."

Barbour has repeatedly blasted the media for hurting his state's tourism with reports that make the spill sound "like this is Armageddon." He told a local newspaper that cancellations at hotels and other attractions were "are at a record pace, and the reason is they think we are inundated with oil or that it's imminent."

The Governor has also been critical of calls to halt offshore drilling in the Gulf. "A bunch of liberal elite were hoping this would be the Three Mile Island of offshore drilling," he told a business group.

On Tuesday, when oil actually washed ashore on an island off the coast of his state, Barbour initially sounded a different note. "This could turn out to be something catastrophic and terrible," Barbour said, before adding, "but that has just not been the case so far." He called the incident, which occurred 43 days after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig, a "wake-up call." (And he did eventually ask the government for more boats to be stationed off the coast.) Still, the Governor who insisted his state was prepared for spill damage thanked "God's grace" that Petit Bois Island did not suffer more harm. "I don't think the island was hurt one iota," he said. "[Tar balls] are all on the beach, and they should be easy to clean up with rakes and shovels." So all's well.

Meanwhile, three of Barbour's fellow Gulf Coast governors have been front and center with criticisms and demands in response to the catastrophe. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) has slammed both the government and BP for failing to act fast enough in response to the spill. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) has asked BP for millions of dollars to fund a tourism ad campaign. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley (R) has admitted that the spill has forced him to reconsider his support for offshore drilling. And when those three fellow Gulf Coast governors traveled to Louisiana last Friday to be with President Barack Obama while he surveyed the effects of the spill, where was Barbour? He preferred staying home.

Watch Barbour on CNN: