English subtitles for clip: File:2010-05-22 President Obama's Weekly Address.ogv

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The President: One month ago this week,
BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig

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exploded off Louisiana's coast,
killing 11 people and rupturing

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an underwater pipe.

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The resulting oil spill has not
only dealt an economic blow to

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Americans across the Gulf
Coast, it also represents an

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environmental disaster.

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In response, we're drawing on
America's best minds and using

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the world's best technology
to stop the leak.

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We've deployed over 1,100
vessels, about 24,000 personnel,

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and more than 2 million total
feet of boom to help contain it.

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And we're doing all we can to
assist struggling fishermen,

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and the small businesses and
communities that depend on them.

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Folks on the Gulf Coast
-- and across America --

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are rightly demanding swift
action to clean up BP's mess and

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end this ordeal.

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But they're also demanding to
know how this happened in the

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first place, and how we can make
sure it never happens again.

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That's what I'd like to spend
a few minutes talking with you about.

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First and foremost, what led to
this disaster was a breakdown of

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responsibility on the part
of BP and perhaps others,

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including Transocean
and Halliburton.

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And we will continue to hold the
relevant companies accountable

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not only for being forthcoming
and transparent about the facts

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surrounding the leak,
but for shutting it down,

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repairing the damage it does,
and repaying Americans who've

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suffered a financial loss.

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But even as we continue
to hold BP accountable,

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we also need to hold
Washington accountable.

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Now, this catastrophe is
unprecedented in its nature,

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and it presents a host of new
challenges we're working to address.

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But the question is what lessons
we can learn from this disaster

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to make sure it
never happens again.

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If the laws on our books are
inadequate to prevent such an

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oil spill, or if we didn't
enforce those laws --

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I want to know it.

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I want to know what worked and
what didn't work in our response

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to the disaster, and where
oversight of the oil and gas

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industry broke down.

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We know, for example, that a
cozy relationship between oil

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and gas companies and the agencies
that regulate them has

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long been a source of concern.

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Secretary of the Interior Ken
Salazar has taken steps to

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address this problem; steps that
build on reforms he has been

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implementing since
he took office.

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But we need to do a lot more to
protect the health and safety of

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our people; to safeguard the
quality of our air and water;

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and to preserve the natural
beauty and bounty of America.

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In recent weeks, we've taken a
number of immediate measures to

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prevent another spill.

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We've ordered inspections of all
deepwater operations in the Gulf

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of Mexico.

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We've announced that no permits
for drilling new wells will go

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forward until the 30-day safety
and environmental review I

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requested is complete.

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And I've called on Congress to
pass a bill that would provide

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critical funds and tools to
respond to this spill and better

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prepare us to confront
any future spills.

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But we also need to take a
comprehensive look at how the

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oil and gas industry operates
and how we regulate them.

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That's why, on Friday, I signed
an executive order establishing

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the National Commission on the
BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

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and Offshore Drilling.

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While there are a number
of ongoing investigations,

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including an independent review
by the National Academy of

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Engineering, the purpose of this
Commission is to consider both

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the root causes of the disaster
and offer options on what safety

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and environmental precautions
we need to take to prevent a

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similar disaster
from happening again.

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This Commission, I'd note, is
similar to one proposed by

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Congresswoman Capps
and Senator Whitehouse.

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And I've asked Democrat
Bob Graham and Republican

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Bill Reilly to co-chair
this Commission.

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Bob served two terms
as Florida's governor,

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and represented Florida as a
United States Senator for almost

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two decades.

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During that time, he earned a
reputation as a champion of the

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environment, leading the
most extensive environmental

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protection effort in
the state's history.

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Bill Reilly is chairman emeritus
of the board of the World

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Wildlife Fund, and he is also
deeply knowledgeable about the

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oil and gas industry.

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During the presidency
of George H.W. Bush,

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Bill was Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency,

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and his tenure encompassed
the Exxon Valdez disaster.

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I can't think of two people who
will bring greater experience or

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better judgment to
the task at hand.

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In the days to come, I'll
appoint 5 other distinguished

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Americans --
including scientists,

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engineers, and
environmental advocates --

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to join them on the Commission.

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And I'm directing them to
report back in 6 months with

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recommendations on
how we can prevent --

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and mitigate the impact of --
any future spills that result

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from offshore drilling.

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One of the reasons I ran for
President was to put America on

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the path to energy independence,
and I have not wavered from that commitment.

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To achieve that goal, we must
pursue clean energy and energy

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efficiency, and we've taken
significant steps to do so.

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And we must also pursue domestic
sources of oil and gas.

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Because it represents 30%
of our oil production,

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the Gulf of Mexico can play an
important part in securing our

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energy future.

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But we can only pursue offshore
oil drilling if we have

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assurances that a disaster like
the BP oil spill will not happen again.

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This Commission will, I hope,
help provide those assurances so

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we can continue to seek a secure
energy future for the United

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States of America.

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Thanks so much.