US President Barack Obama pushed alternative sources of energy while vowing to make BP pay for the devastation caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, addressing the nation ahead of a key showdown yesterday with BP executives.
Eight weeks into the crisis, oil continues to gush from the broken wellhead off the coast of Louisiana, millions of liters a day. Obama has been powerless to stem the leak and many Americans are angry at what they see as the government’s slow response to their country’s worst environmental disaster.
The president warned there would be more damage before the spill is contained. He said the country could be tied up with the oil and its aftermath for months or years.
“We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused,” Obama declared in his first Oval Office address, a venue often reserved for matters of war.
That is now how Obama describes the massive oil spill, a “siege” on US shores.
The president also urged Americans and US Congress to get behind his goal of passing sweeping energy and climate change legislation, a key domestic priority of his presidency that had become stalled in the US Senate.
“Countries like China are investing in clean-energy jobs and industries that should be right here in America. Each day, we send nearly US$1 billion of our wealth to foreign countries for their oil,” he said. “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.”
Obama has been scrambling to show he is doing everything he can to stop the massive environmental and financial damage from the oil leak, but the government doesn’t have the technology to stop a spill at a depth of 1.6km, 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.
The president’s 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.
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