President Obama on the Gulf Coast Oil Spill: “We will continue to do whatever is necessary”

[Political Tiger]

President Obama held a press conference this afternoon to address the Administration’s ongoing efforts to stop the oil leak and to clean up the aftermath of the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The President firmly stated that the federal government has been in control of the response efforts since day one.

The American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort. As far as I’m concerned, BP is responsible for this horrific disaster, and we will hold them fully accountable on behalf of the United States as well as the people and communities victimized by this tragedy. We will demand that they pay every dime they owe for the damage they’ve done and the painful losses that they’ve caused. And we will continue to take full advantage of the unique technology and expertise they have to help stop this leak.

The President spoke of the government’s efforts to help those living in the Gulf region whose livelihoods have been affected by the oil spill, noting that “we’re not going to abandon our fellow citizens. We’ll help them recover, and we will help them rebuild.” The Small Business Administration has already approved new loans for affected businesses and is allowing many small businesses to defer existing payments. Additionally, the Administration is making sure that BP is held responsible for paying economic injury claims.

President Obama then took the opportunity to announce new regulations for the oil industry, including a suspension of plans to drill in other offshore locations around the country pending additional reviews:

I also announced that no new permits for drilling new wells will go forward until a 30-day safety and environmental review was conducted. That review is now complete. Its initial recommendations include aggressive new operating standards and requirements for offshore energy companies, which we will put in place.

Additionally, after reading the report’s recommendations with Secretary Salazar and other members of my administration, we’re going to be ordering the following actions: First, we will suspend the planned exploration of two locations off the coast of Alaska. Second, we will cancel the pending lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico and the proposed lease sale off the coast of Virginia. Third, we will continue the existing moratorium and suspend the issuance of new permits to drill new deepwater wells for six months. And four, we will suspend action on 33 deepwater exploratory wells currently being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico.

Finally, the President also noted that the disaster in the Gulf is a stark reminder that the United States needs to work toward a clean energy future—specifically by passing energy reform legislation.

If nothing else, this disaster should serve as a wake-up call that it’s time to move forward on this legislation. It’s time to accelerate the competition with countries like China, who have already realized the future lies in renewable energy. And it’s time to seize that future ourselves. So I call on Democrats and Republicans in Congress, working with my administration, to answer this challenge once and for all.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/elizabethchan/gGGVCN

[Cha]

1. Thank you for this, PT..I saw

some of it on live stream and then my audio feed went out and the whole thing froze..so I got good info from Clio's thread but I wanted to read it all.

So thanks!

[Number23]

2. The quote in your first text box is gold.

[treestar]

3. It's scary how much sense the POTUS makes to me whenever he talks

They can call me a cheerleader or groupie, but I really do think he makes sense. My politics must be quite close to his.