Acknowledging that “the system failed and it failed badly,” President Barack Obama called for a stop to finger-pointing over who is at fault for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and for the first time put a share of the blame on the federal government.
The president’s admission of a breakdown in government procedures comes amid reports that federal regulators were lax in oversight and issuing permits for drilling in the Gulf. He slammed the “cozy relationship” oil companies have with the Minerals Management Services, and said the Interior Department will embark on a “top-to-bottom reform” of the agency and conduct a review of the environmental procedures for drilling.
“I understand that there are legal and financial issues involved, and a full investigation will tell us what happened,” Obama said in remarks after receiving an update on the spill. “With that, there’s enough responsibility to go around, and all parties should be willing to accept it. That includes, by the way, the federal government.”
Obama, who was joined in the Rose Garden by his top advisers and Cabinet secretaries, criticized executives of the companies involved in the oil spill for trying to deflect responsibility onto each other, calling their behavior during Tuesday’s congressional hearings “a ridiculous spectacle.”
“You had executives of BP, Transocean and Halliburton falling over each other to point the finger of blame at somebody else. The American people could not have been impressed with that display and I certainly wasn’t,” Obama said. “I will not tolerate more finger-pointing or irresponsibility.” - Politico Story
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