The first two witnesses on the panel, Dr. F.E. Beck, associate professor at Texas A&M University and Mr. Danenberger, former chief of the offshore regulatory division at the Minerals Management Service (MMS), opened up the hearing as Sens. Bingaman and Murkowski asked mainly technical questions.

Danenberger spent much of his time promoting the great virtues of MMS, but of course, failed to mention that "MMS granted a categorical exclusion and failed to require a thorough environmental review before allowing BP to proceed with this exploration well," as Earthjustice legislative associate Jessica Ennis noted in a press statement on today’s hearings.

Even as Congress is asking questions, MMS and President Obama’s Department of Interior are moving full steam ahead with offshore drilling in America’s Arctic Ocean with a drill rig similar to the one that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. Senators continue to question the first panel of experts, and more than a few of them have suggested they’re much more excited to grill the second panel of witnesses, which includes representatives from BP, Transocean Limited and Halliburton.