Obama: We Will Stop Gulf Oil Leak

Washington - President Obama said the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is a tragedy that is difficult to stop, but the U.S. government is exploring all reasonable strategies in an effort to plug the leak and mitigate the ecological and economic damage.

Speaking to reporters May 27 at a White House press conference, Obama said the federal government is overseeing the actions taken by British Petroleum (BP) to plug the leak at its offshore well, saying government officials are "authorized to direct BP in the same way that they'd be authorized to direct those same teams if they were technically being paid by the federal government."

But he acknowledged that the U.S. government "does not possess superior technology to BP" or other oil companies when it comes to capping the well and stopping the leak.

"The fact that the source of the leak is a mile under the surface where no human being can go has made it enormously difficult to stop. But we are relying on every resource and every idea, every expert and every bit of technology, to work to stop it. We will take ideas from anywhere, but we are going to stop it," Obama said.

The president visited Fourchon Beach in Louisiana May 28 on his second visit to the region since the oil spill began April 20. He met with local officials and others who are working to contain and clean up the damage from what has now become the worst oil spill in U.S. history, surpassing the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.

"Obviously the concern ... is that until we actually stop the flow, we've got problems," the president said at Fourchon Beach. He was joined by the national incident commander, U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, and Louisiana's LaFourche Parish President Charlotte Randolf .

"It may be that there's some additional strategies, Madam President, that you're interested in pursuing," he told Randolf.
In his White House remarks, Obama said the government-directed effort to contain and clean up the damage "is now the largest effort of its kind in U.S. history," comprising personnel and resources from federal, state and local governments.

"So far we have about 20,000 people in the region who are working around the clock to contain and clean up this oil. We have activated about 1,400 members of the National Guard in four states. We have the Coast Guard on site. We have more than 1,300 vessels assisting in the containment and cleanup efforts," he said.

But the president acknowledged that even with a perfect organizational structure in place, a "big mess" is coming to the shores and wetlands of Louisiana and other U.S. Gulf states.

"There's going to be damage that is heartbreaking to see. People's livelihoods are going to be affected in painful ways. The best thing for us to do is to make sure that every decision about how we're allocating the resources that we've got is being made based on the best expert advice that's available," he said.

Gulf residents and many Americans are feeling anger and frustration as the area damaged from the spill grows larger. "Every day I see this leak continue, I am angry and frustrated as well," Obama said.

Although the president said he holds BP responsible for the disaster and said the company will be held fully accountable for the damage, he said that in the meantime, "my job is to get this fixed."

"I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy. It doesn't mean it's going to happen right away or the way I'd like it to happen. It doesn't mean that we're not going to make mistakes. But there shouldn't be any confusion here. The federal government is fully engaged, and I'm fully engaged," he said.

At the same time, Obama said, his administration is seeking to ensure that "a catastrophe like this never happens again."

He condemned "the oil industry's cozy and sometimes corrupt relationship with government regulators," saying the disaster shows that "for years, the oil and gas industry has leveraged such power that they have effectively been allowed to regulate themselves."

The government agency previously responsible for both allowing oil drilling and regulating it has since seen those two functions separated, he said.

In addition, Obama said he has suspended planned oil exploration and drilling permits in the Gulf and off the coast of Alaska, canceled oil lease sales in the Gulf and off the coast of Virginia, and will continue the existing moratorium on issuing new permits to drill deepwater wells.

Although domestic oil production must be part of the energy strategy for the United States, Obama said, "this economic and environmental tragedy ... underscores the urgent need for this nation to develop clean, renewable sources of energy."

"Doing so will not only reduce threats to our environment. It will create a new homegrown American industry that can lead to countless new businesses and new jobs," he said. He added that future technological breakthroughs are still necessary for the country to transition to a pure clean-energy grid.