Oval Office
8:01 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. As
we speak, our nation faces a multitude of
challenges. At home, our top priority is
to recover and rebuild from a recession that has
touched the lives of nearly every American.
Abroad, our brave men and women in uniform are
taking the fight to al Qaeda wherever it exists.
And tonight, I’ve returned from a trip to the
Gulf Coast to speak with you about the battle
we’re waging against an oil spill that is
assaulting our shores and our citizens.
On April 20th, an explosion ripped through BP
Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, about 40 miles
off the coast of Louisiana. Eleven workers
lost their lives. Seventeen others were
injured. And soon, nearly a mile beneath
the surface of the ocean, oil began spewing into
the water.
Because there has never been a leak this size
at this depth, stopping it has tested the limits
of human technology. That’s why just
after the rig sank, I assembled a team of our
nation’s best scientists and engineers to
tackle this challenge -- a team led by Dr.
Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and
our nation’s Secretary of Energy.
Scientists at our national labs and experts from
academia and other oil companies have also
provided ideas and advice.
As a result of these efforts, we’ve
directed BP to mobilize additional equipment and
technology. And in the coming weeks and
days, these efforts should capture up to 90
percent of the oil leaking out of the well.
This is until the company finishes drilling a
relief well later in the summer that’s
expected to stop the leak completely.
Already, this oil spill is the worst
environmental disaster America has ever faced.
And unlike an earthquake or a hurricane, it’s
not a single event that does its damage in a
matter of minutes or days. The millions of
gallons of oil that have spilled into the Gulf
of Mexico are more like an epidemic, one that we
will be fighting for months and even years.
But make no mistake: We will fight this
spill with everything we’ve got for as long as
it takes. We will make BP pay for the
damage their company has caused. And we
will do whatever’s necessary to help the Gulf
Coast and its people recover from this tragedy.
Tonight I’d like to lay out for you what
our battle plan is going forward: what
we’re doing to clean up the oil, what we’re
doing to help our neighbors in the Gulf, and
what we’re doing to make sure that a
catastrophe like this never happens again.
First, the cleanup. From the very
beginning of this crisis, the federal government
has been in charge of the largest environmental
cleanup effort in our nation’s history -- an
effort led by Admiral Thad Allen, who has almost
40 years of experience responding to disasters.
We now have nearly 30,000 personnel who are
working across four states to contain and clean
up the oil. Thousands of ships and other
vessels are responding in the Gulf. And
I’ve authorized the deployment of over 17,000
National Guard members along the coast.
These servicemen and women are ready to help
stop the oil from coming ashore, they’re ready
to help clean the beaches, train response
workers, or even help with processing claims --
and I urge the governors in the affected states
to activate these troops as soon as possible.
Because of our efforts, millions of gallons
of oil have already been removed from the water
through burning, skimming and other collection
methods. Over five and a half million feet
of boom has been laid across the water to block
and absorb the approaching oil. We’ve
approved the construction of new barrier islands
in Louisiana to try to stop the oil before it
reaches the shore, and we’re working with
Alabama, Mississippi and Florida to implement
creative approaches to their unique coastlines.
As the cleanup continues, we will offer
whatever additional resources and assistance our
coastal states may need. Now, a
mobilization of this speed and magnitude will
never be perfect, and new challenges will always
arise. I saw and heard evidence of that
during this trip. So if something isn’t
working, we want to hear about it. If
there are problems in the operation, we will fix
them.
But we have to recognize that despite our
best efforts, oil has already caused damage to
our coastline and its wildlife. And sadly,
no matter how effective our response is, there
will be more oil and more damage before this
siege is done. That’s why the second
thing we’re focused on is the recovery and
restoration of the Gulf Coast.
You know, for generations, men and women who
call this region home have made their living
from the water. That living is now in
jeopardy. I’ve talked to shrimpers and
fishermen who don’t know how they’re going
to support their families this year.
I’ve seen empty docks and restaurants with
fewer customers -– even in areas where the
beaches are not yet affected. I’ve
talked to owners of shops and hotels who wonder
when the tourists might start coming back.
The sadness and the anger they feel is not just
about the money they’ve lost. It’s
about a wrenching anxiety that their way of life
may be lost.
I refuse to let that happen. Tomorrow,
I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform
him that he is to set aside whatever resources
are required to compensate the workers and
business owners who have been harmed as a result
of his company’s recklessness. And this
fund will not be controlled by BP. In
order to ensure that all legitimate claims are
paid out in a fair and timely manner, the
account must and will be administered by an
independent third party.
Beyond compensating the people of the Gulf in
the short term, it’s also clear we need a
long-term plan to restore the unique beauty and
bounty of this region. The oil spill
represents just the latest blow to a place
that’s already suffered multiple economic
disasters and decades of environmental
degradation that has led to disappearing
wetlands and habitats. And the region
still hasn’t recovered from Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita. That’s why we must make a
commitment to the Gulf Coast that goes beyond
responding to the crisis of the moment.
I make that commitment tonight.
Earlier, I asked Ray Mabus, the Secretary of the
Navy, who is also a former governor of
Mississippi and a son of the Gulf Coast, to
develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan
as soon as possible. The plan will be
designed by states, local communities, tribes,
fishermen, businesses, conservationists and
other Gulf residents. And BP will pay for
the impact this spill has had on the region.
The third part of our response plan is the
steps we’re taking to ensure that a disaster
like this does not happen again. A few
months ago, I approved a proposal to consider
new, limited offshore drilling under the
assurance that it would be absolutely safe –-
that the proper technology would be in place and
the necessary precautions would be taken.
That obviously was not the case in the
Deepwater Horizon rig, and I want to know why.
The American people deserve to know why.
The families I met with last week who lost their
loved ones in the explosion -- these families
deserve to know why. And so I’ve
established a National Commission to understand
the causes of this disaster and offer
recommendations on what additional safety and
environmental standards we need to put in place.
Already, I’ve issued a six-month moratorium on
deepwater drilling. I know this creates
difficulty for the people who work on these
rigs, but for the sake of their safety, and for
the sake of the entire region, we need to know
the facts before we allow deepwater drilling to
continue. And while I urge the Commission
to complete its work as quickly as possible, I
expect them to do that work thoroughly and
impartially.
One place we’ve already begun to take
action is at the agency in charge of regulating
drilling and issuing permits, known as the
Minerals Management Service. Over the last
decade, this agency has become emblematic of a
failed philosophy that views all regulation with
hostility -- a philosophy that says corporations
should be allowed to play by their own rules and
police themselves. At this agency,
industry insiders were put in charge of industry
oversight. Oil companies showered
regulators with gifts and favors, and were
essentially allowed to conduct their own safety
inspections and write their own regulations.
When Ken Salazar became my Secretary of the
Interior, one of his very first acts was to
clean up the worst of the corruption at this
agency. But it’s now clear that the
problem there ran much deeper, and the pace of
reform was just too slow. And so Secretary
Salazar and I are bringing in new leadership at
the agency -- Michael Bromwich, who was a tough
federal prosecutor and Inspector General.
And his charge over the next few months is to
build an organization that acts as the oil
industry’s watchdog -- not its partner.
So one of the lessons we’ve learned from
this spill is that we need better regulations,
better safety standards, and better enforcement
when it comes to offshore drilling. But a
larger lesson is that no matter how much we
improve our regulation of the industry, drilling
for oil these days entails greater risk.
After all, oil is a finite resource. We
consume more than 20 percent of the world’s
oil, but have less than 2 percent of the
world’s oil reserves. And that’s part
of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile
beneath the surface of the ocean -- because
we’re running out of places to drill on land
and in shallow water.
For decades, we have known the days of cheap
and easily accessible oil were numbered.
For decades, we’ve talked and talked about the
need to end America’s century-long addiction
to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have
failed to act with the sense of urgency that
this challenge requires. Time and again,
the path forward has been blocked -- not only by
oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of
political courage and candor.
The consequences of our inaction are now in
plain sight. Countries like China are
investing in clean energy jobs and industries
that should be right here in America. Each
day, we send nearly $1 billion of our wealth to
foreign countries for their oil. And
today, as we look to the Gulf, we see an entire
way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud
of black crude.
We cannot consign our children to this
future. 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. Now is the moment for this
generation to embark on a national mission to
unleash America’s innovation and seize control
of our own destiny.
This is not some distant vision for America.
The transition away from fossil fuels is going
to take some time, but over the last year and a
half, we’ve already taken unprecedented action
to jumpstart the clean energy industry. As
we speak, old factories are reopening to produce
wind turbines, people are going back to work
installing energy-efficient windows, and small
businesses are making solar panels.
Consumers are buying more efficient cars and
trucks, and families are making their homes more
energy-efficient. Scientists and
researchers are discovering clean energy
technologies that someday will lead to entire
new industries.
Each of us has a part to play in a new future
that will benefit all of us. As we recover
from this recession, the transition to clean
energy has the potential to grow our economy and
create millions of jobs -– but only if we
accelerate that transition. Only if we
seize the moment. And only if we rally
together and act as one nation –- workers and
entrepreneurs; scientists and citizens; the
public and private sectors.
When I was a candidate for this office, I laid
out a set of principles that would move our
country towards energy independence. Last
year, the House of Representatives acted on
these principles by passing a strong and
comprehensive energy and climate bill –- a
bill that finally makes clean energy the
profitable kind of energy for America’s
businesses.
Now, there are costs associated with this
transition. And there are some who believe
that we can’t afford those costs right now.
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.
So I’m happy to look at other ideas and
approaches from either party -– as long they
seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels.
Some have suggested raising efficiency standards
in our buildings like we did in our cars and
trucks. Some believe we should set
standards to ensure that more of our electricity
comes from wind and solar power. Others
wonder why the energy industry only spends a
fraction of what the high-tech industry does on
research and development -– and want to
rapidly boost our investments in such research
and development.
All of these approaches have merit, and
deserve a fair hearing in the months ahead.
But the one approach I will not accept is
inaction. The one answer I will not settle
for is the idea that this challenge is somehow
too big and too difficult to meet. You
know, the same thing was said about our ability
to produce enough planes and tanks in World War
II. The same thing was said about our
ability to harness the science and technology to
land a man safely on the surface of the moon.
And yet, time and again, we have refused to
settle for the paltry limits of conventional
wisdom. Instead, what has defined us as a
nation since our founding is the capacity to
shape our destiny -– our determination to
fight for the America we want for our children.
Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks
like. Even if we don’t yet know
precisely how we’re going to get there.
We know we’ll get there.
It’s a faith in the future that sustains us
as a people. It is that same faith that
sustains our neighbors in the Gulf right now.
Each year, at the beginning of shrimping
season, the region’s fishermen take part in a
tradition that was brought to America long ago
by fishing immigrants from Europe. It’s
called “The Blessing of the Fleet,” and
today it’s a celebration where clergy from
different religions gather to say a prayer for
the safety and success of the men and women who
will soon head out to sea -– some for weeks at
a time.
The ceremony goes on in good times and in bad.
It took place after Katrina, and it took place a
few weeks ago –- at the beginning of the most
difficult season these fishermen have ever
faced.
And still, they came and they prayed.
For as a priest and former fisherman once said
of the tradition, “The blessing is not that
God has promised to remove all obstacles and
dangers. The blessing is that He is with
us always,” a blessing that’s granted
“even in the midst of the storm.”
The oil spill is not the last crisis America
will face. This nation has known hard
times before and we will surely know them again.
What sees us through -– what has always seen
us through –- is our strength, our resilience,
and our unyielding faith that something better
awaits us if we summon the courage to reach for
it.
Tonight, we pray for that courage. We
pray for the people of the Gulf. And we
pray that a hand may guide us through the storm
towards a brighter day. Thank you, God
bless you, and may God bless the United States
of America.
END
8:18 P.M. EDT
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