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Obama says BP must pay for its 'recklessness'
Source: Agencies |
June 16, 2010, Wednesday
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US President Barack Obama lashed out at BP in the first Oval Office address of his presidency yesterday, accusing the British oil giant of recklessness and swearing not to rest until the company has paid for the damage.
Eight weeks into the crisis, oil continues to gush from the broken wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico, millions of gallons a day. Obama has been powerless to stem the leak, and many Americans are angry by what they see as the government's slow response to their country's worst environmental disaster.
The president, in a prime-time speech that sought to reassure the country he was in command of the crisis, nevertheless warned there would be more damage before the spill is contained.
"We will make BP pay," he vowed.
Obama has been scrambling to show he is doing everything he can. But the government doesn't have the technology to stop a spill at such depth, forcing Obama to rely on BP to fix it.
"We will fight this spill with everything we've got for as long it takes," Obama said.
In a statement released immediately after Obama's speech, BP said it shared the president's goal of cleaning up the oil and helping those affected by the spill.
The address capped a two-day inspection tour of the stricken Gulf of Mexico region, and was lent new urgency as scientists announced the spill could be worse than previously thought.
It comes just ahead of his meeting in the White House today with top BP executives, and Obama said he would tell them to set aside whatever resources are required to help local residents and businesses hurt by the spill and to repair the immense ecological damage wrought by the oil.
In its statement, BP said it was looking forward to the meeting "for a constructive discussion about how best to achieve these mutual goals."
Obama said his government also has directed BP to mobilize more equipment and technology and that stepped-up efforts in the coming weeks should result in the capture of 90 percent of the oil spewing out of the well. Completion of a relief well later in the summer is expected to "stop the leak completely," the president added.
Obama said he had asked former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus to develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan - to be funded by BP - in concert with local states, communities, fishermen, conservationists and residents "as soon as possible."
Obama did not detail what this plan should include.
The new Associated Press-GfK poll released yesterday found 52 percent of those surveyed don't approve of Obama's handling of the spill, a shift from last month when a big chunk of people withheld judgment. But the public is directing most of its ire at the oil company that leased the rig that caused the leak of millions of gallons of crude. A stunning 83 percent disapprove of BP's performance in the aftermath of the April 20 rig explosion, while Obama's overall job performance rating stayed virtually the same at 50 percent.
Earlier yesterday, a government panel of scientists said the oil spill was leaking between 1.47 million and 2.52 million gallons a day - an increase over previous estimates that put the maximum size of the spill at 2.2 million gallons per day.
As of yesterday, the maximum amount of oil that has gushed out of the well since the April 20 explosion is 116 million gallons, according to the estimates by scientists advising the federal government.
Obama also urged the nation and Congress to get behind his goal of passing sweeping energy and climate change legislation, a key domestic priority of his presidency that had become a long shot. Though Obama supports placing a price on heat-trapping carbon emissions, he did not directly state that.
"The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now," he said. "I say we can't afford not to change how we produce and use energy - because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater."
Eight weeks into the crisis, oil continues to gush from the broken wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico, millions of gallons a day. Obama has been powerless to stem the leak, and many Americans are angry by what they see as the government's slow response to their country's worst environmental disaster.
The president, in a prime-time speech that sought to reassure the country he was in command of the crisis, nevertheless warned there would be more damage before the spill is contained.
"We will make BP pay," he vowed.
Obama has been scrambling to show he is doing everything he can. But the government doesn't have the technology to stop a spill at such depth, forcing Obama to rely on BP to fix it.
"We will fight this spill with everything we've got for as long it takes," Obama said.
In a statement released immediately after Obama's speech, BP said it shared the president's goal of cleaning up the oil and helping those affected by the spill.
The address capped a two-day inspection tour of the stricken Gulf of Mexico region, and was lent new urgency as scientists announced the spill could be worse than previously thought.
It comes just ahead of his meeting in the White House today with top BP executives, and Obama said he would tell them to set aside whatever resources are required to help local residents and businesses hurt by the spill and to repair the immense ecological damage wrought by the oil.
In its statement, BP said it was looking forward to the meeting "for a constructive discussion about how best to achieve these mutual goals."
Obama said his government also has directed BP to mobilize more equipment and technology and that stepped-up efforts in the coming weeks should result in the capture of 90 percent of the oil spewing out of the well. Completion of a relief well later in the summer is expected to "stop the leak completely," the president added.
Obama said he had asked former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus to develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan - to be funded by BP - in concert with local states, communities, fishermen, conservationists and residents "as soon as possible."
Obama did not detail what this plan should include.
The new Associated Press-GfK poll released yesterday found 52 percent of those surveyed don't approve of Obama's handling of the spill, a shift from last month when a big chunk of people withheld judgment. But the public is directing most of its ire at the oil company that leased the rig that caused the leak of millions of gallons of crude. A stunning 83 percent disapprove of BP's performance in the aftermath of the April 20 rig explosion, while Obama's overall job performance rating stayed virtually the same at 50 percent.
Earlier yesterday, a government panel of scientists said the oil spill was leaking between 1.47 million and 2.52 million gallons a day - an increase over previous estimates that put the maximum size of the spill at 2.2 million gallons per day.
As of yesterday, the maximum amount of oil that has gushed out of the well since the April 20 explosion is 116 million gallons, according to the estimates by scientists advising the federal government.
Obama also urged the nation and Congress to get behind his goal of passing sweeping energy and climate change legislation, a key domestic priority of his presidency that had become a long shot. Though Obama supports placing a price on heat-trapping carbon emissions, he did not directly state that.
"The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now," he said. "I say we can't afford not to change how we produce and use energy - because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater."
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