Image of oil slick captured by NASA's Aqua Satellite - Click above to watch video after the jump
In the wake of the disastrous oil spill off of the Louisiana shoreline, the White House announced that it will put a halt to all new offshore drilling in U.S water until the cause for the disaster can be determined and additional safety measure can be put in place to prevent future incidents. The announcement comes shortly after the White House reluctantly admitted that the spill is "a leak of national significance." White House senior adviser David Axelrod spoke on behalf of the president releasing this statement to ABC's Good Morning America:
The president has little choice but to act swiftly in regard to this incident. As additional reports keep pouring in, the outlook is very dim. The latest estimates suggest that 210,000 gallons of oil are tainting the Gulf each day and efforts to halt the leak have been futile. If the leak continues at this rate, it would become the largest oil spill in U.S. history by the end of June, possibly exceeding the 1989 Exxon Valdez catastrophe.All he has said is that he is not going to continue the moratorium on drilling, but ... no additional drilling has been authorized, and none will until we find out what happened here and whether there was something unique and preventable.
The oil is expected to reach all coastal areas of the Gulf within the week. British Petroleum (BP) has vowed to pay for all damages to privately-owned property (but there's this and this). Want to see more of this disastrous oil spill? Watch the video after the jump. It requires a keen eye to spot the slick across the surface of the water, but it's there.
[Source: AOL News | Image: NASA Goddard Photo and Video - C.C. License 2.0]
The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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