BP Fines to be Used for Restoration

The highway bill got past a deadlocked Senate and it includes a beneficial provision for the Gulf of Mexico devastated by the Deepwater Horizon disaster.  The provision guarantees that 80% of the fines collected from BP and its associates, which could be as much as $20 billion, are to be used to restore the coastline in five states along the Gulf.  The bill still has to be passed by the Repugnants in the House of Representatives.  The provision has the support of Gulf state legislators. Their states will share 35% of the money equally while 60% will go to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council and 5% to a new science and fisheries program.  If Congress does not pass the provision, the money will go to the US Treasury.  Now what remains to accomplished is a British Petroleum plea to a corporate criminal violation of applicable environmental and wildlife protection laws.