President Barack Obama used a Friday morning speech to address the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and how he expects to move forward on off shore drilling in other areas including Virginia.
Obama, speaking in the Rose Garden, talked about the oil spill which still hasn't been contained and made landfall on the Gulf coast this morning. Obama and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell are over a barrel on this one, because they both want to tap into off shore reserves of oil and natural gas, and this spill underscores the potential catastrophic dangers to nearby coastlines.
The problem would be especially acute in Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads if a rig off Virginia's coastline busted wide open. A lot of the safety and containment techniques are experimental, which leaves sea-life - fish, mammals, shrimp and oysters - extremely vulnerable.
Here's the top of Obama's speech with emphasis added:
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. Before I make a statement on the economy, I just want to offer an update on the ongoing federal response to the worsening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
I have dispatched the Secretaries of Interior and Homeland Security, as well as the Administrator of the EPA, my Assistant for Energy and Climate Change Policy, and the NOAA Administrator to the Gulf Coast to ensure that we continue to do everything necessary to respond to this event. And I expect their reports from the ground today.
As I said yesterday, BP is ultimately responsible under the law for paying the costs of response and cleanup operations, but we are fully prepared to meet our responsibilities to any and all affected communities. And that’s why we’ve been working closely with state and local authorities since the day of the explosion.
There are now five staging areas to protect sensitive shorelines; approximately 1,900 federal response personnel are in the area; and more than 300 response vessels and aircraft on the scene 24/7. We've also laid approximately 217,000 feet of protective boom, and there are more on the way.
I've order Secretary Salazar to conduct a thorough review of this incident and report back to me in 30 days on what, if any, additional precautions and technologies should be required to prevent accidents like this from happening again. And we're going to make sure that any leases going forward have those safeguards. We've also dispatched teams to the Gulf to inspect all deepwater rigs and platforms to address safety concerns.
So, let me be clear. I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security, but I've always said it must be done responsibly, for the safety of our workers and our environment. The local economies and livelihoods of the people of the Gulf Coast as well as the ecology of the region are at stake. And we're going to continue to update the American people on the situation in the Gulf going forward.
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