After Arkansas Break, Has the Debate Regarding New Pipelines Gone From Politics to Public Safety?

Arkansas residents are still displaced after an Exxon Mobil pipeline broke a month ago, flooding homes and backyards with oil. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil and water have reportedly been removed from the area but there is still a lot more damage to fix. At least two residents have filed lawsuits against Exxon Mobil, suing for millions. Like most pipelines in the U.S., this now burst pipe in the town of Mayflower was 65-years-old.  

The local media has reportedly been shut out by Exxon and the local authorities from covering the clean up. British Petroleum also had difficulties addressing the media following their spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Why haven’t oil companies learned from catastrophe? The spill has cost the company $42 billion and that bill is still rising. Why do Americans still need to support the oil industry despite stories like this one? Could the political obstacles lined up against building new pipelines be both an economic and public safety concern?

Former Shell Oil co. CEO and founder of Citizens for Affordable Energy, John Hofmeister, joined "Wilkow!" Tuesday to answer these questions and discuss how oil companies can better respond to such crises and prepare for the future.