Sen. Mary Landrieu on the Truth-O-Meter

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has prompted lots of criticism of oil companies and made some people question whether the federal government should pursue more offshore drilling.

The spill has put a spotlight on Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat from Louisiana. She has said BP should pay for the damages caused by the spill, but she’s also sought to put the spill in perspective, saying it’s a very rare occurrence.

We checked two of her claims:

• Landrieu said her state gets “not one single penny” in revenue from the drilling. We checked the numbers and found she was wrong, that the state gets millions of dollars in royalties. We rated that one False.

• She said the spill is a very rare event, claiming that over the past decade, only 7,000 barrels have been spilled into the gulf if you exclude the amount spilled because of hurricanes. We rated that Mostly True.