BP shield law

The important thing to keep in mind about the "Kill-The-Lawsuit-Bill" Bobby Jindal signed last week is that it may not even actually kill the lawsuit.

Here's what we know for sure it does.

SB 469 appears to have been written and deliberately designed by lawyers who represent the oil and gas industry in order to shield, reduce, or eliminate their clients’ exposure to civil damages on a wide range of pending and future claims, including, most notably, BP’s liability for billions of dollars in outstanding claims related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Indeed, according to people intimately involved in the legislative process, no one lobbied harder for the passage of SB 469 than those associated with BP.

It might also kill the SLFPAE lawsuit but that hasn't been determined just yet.  Which is why Jindal is still punishing board members who supported the suit in the first place.

Anyway, renowned idiot Don Briggs is happy.

Oil and gas industry lobbyists had pushed hard for the bill during the 2014 legislative session, which passed both the state House and Senate by relatively healthy margins. They lauded the governor's decision Friday.

"The signing of SB 469 is a huge victory for the oil and gas industry as well as the economy for the state of Louisiana," said Don Briggs, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association. "While there is still much work to be done, this piece of legislation is a big step in the right direction."

Recall that Briggs' deposition was taken in advance of a frivolous LOGA suit brought in hopes of slowing down the SLFPAE suit.  You can think of SB 469 as a similar obstruction with regard to the SLFPAE suit. It means we have to make time for one more round in the courts.

Backers of the lawsuit filed by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East are expected to challenge in court the new law Jindal signed. The authority's lawsuit that generated so much attention is already in federal court.

Which means at least one more round of legal wrangling stands between now and the time we take any meaningful steps toward saving the Louisiana coastline. But hey, take your time there, right?



But as far as the oil industry is concerned, that lawsuit is really just one claim.  If it stands up in court, SB 469 shields them from many many more claims.  It looks like they're aware of this.

Wisner Donation says BP has stopped beach property remediation, cancelled property access agreement. https://t.co/7Abho5B7Ju
— Charles Maldonado (@CMaldonadoLens) June 9, 2014