Obama Calls for Criminal Investigation into BP Disaster

Today,
President Obama vowed to pursue criminal investigation into the cause of
the BP Disaster in the Gulf, which has yet to be contained and is
becoming the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history.

Statement
of Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune

BP needs to be
held fully accountable for the disaster in the Gulf. The company
pursued drilling without having adequate response plans, putting lives
and livelihoods at risk. The company should be fully prosecuted for its
negligence and for any attempts to mislead the government about its
disaster response plans or the seriousness of the oil spill.

This disaster
did not have to happen. In its aggressive pursuit of profit, BP, one of
the richest companies in the world, has robbed thousands of Gulf Coast
residents of their livelihoods and has robbed all of us of irreplaceable
resources like sea turtles, dolphins, birds, clean beaches, and fresh
bountiful seafood.

BP should pay.
Not just for the clean up, but for the lives lost and the natural
treasures destroyed.

We have also
seen just how inadequate federal oversight of the oil industry has been.
President Obama has already taken steps to address these problems, and
we commend him for that. Now, we need to separate oil and state once and
for all.

This disaster
is a wake up call. We need to stop letting the oil industry call the
shots. We need to stop letting the oil industry stand in the way of
policies that would promote clean energy and safe, healthy jobs instead
of more aggressive and dangerous forms of oil. It's time to move beyond
oil.

www.sierraclub.org/bpdisaster