The President on the BP Spill
Mort Zuckerman
Subject: The Gulf Coast
Date: Jun 5, 2010 9:22 PM
Kathleen --
Yesterday, I visited Caminada Bay in Grand Isle, Louisiana -- one of
the first places to feel the devastation wrought by the oil spill in
the Gulf of Mexico. While I was here, at Camerdelle's Live Bait shop,
I met with a group of local residents and small business owners.
Folks like Floyd Lasseigne, a fourth-generation oyster fisherman. This
is the time of year when he ordinarily earns a lot of his income. But
his oyster bed has likely been destroyed by the spill.
Terry Vegas had a similar story. He quit the 8th grade to become a
shrimper with his grandfather. Ever since, he's earned his living
during shrimping season -- working long, grueling days so that he
could earn enough money to support himself year-round. But today, the
waters where he has worked are closed. And every day, as the spill
worsens, he loses hope that he will be able to return to the life he
built.
Here, this spill has not just damaged livelihoods. It has upended
whole communities. And the fury people feel is not just about the
money they have lost. It is about the wrenching recognition that this
time their lives may never be the same.
These people work hard. They meet their responsibilities. But now
because of a manmade catastrophe -- one that is not their fault and
beyond their control -- their lives have been thrown into turmoil. It
is brutally unfair. And what I told these men and women is that I will
stand with the people of the Gulf Coast until they are again made
whole.
That is why, from the beginning, we have worked to deploy every tool
at our disposal to respond to this crisis. Today, there are more than
20,000 people working around the clock to contain and clean up this
spill. I have authorized 17,500 National Guard troops to participate
in the response. More than 1,900 vessels are aiding in the containment
and cleanup effort. We have convened hundreds of top scientists and
engineers from around the world. This is the largest response to an
environmental disaster of this kind in the history of our country.
We have also ordered BP to pay economic injury claims, and this week,
the federal government sent BP a preliminary bill for $69 million to
pay back American taxpayers for some of the costs of the response so
far. In addition, after an emergency safety review, we are putting in
place aggressive new operating standards for offshore drilling. And I
have appointed a bipartisan commission to look into the causes of this
spill. If laws are inadequate, they will be changed. If oversight was
lacking, it will be strengthened. And if laws were broken, those
responsible will be brought to justice.
These are hard times in Louisiana and across the Gulf Coast, an area
that has already seen more than its fair share of troubles. The people
of this region have met this terrible catastrophe with seemingly
boundless strength and character in defense of their way of life. What
we owe them is a commitment by our nation to match the resilience they
have shown. That is our mission. And it is one we will fulfill.
Thank you,
President Barack Obama