President Barack Obama has said the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico will have the same impact on the US psyche as the 11 September terrorist attacks.
Mr Obama is paying his fourth visit to the affected region today.
In an interview with Politico, Mr Obama vowed to push for a radical overhaul of US energy policy that would reduce America's addiction to foreign oil and dangerously deep drilling.
'In the same way that our view of our vulnerabilities and our foreign policy was shaped profoundly by 9/11, I think this disaster is going to shape how we think about the environment and energy for many years to come,' Mr Obama said.
'One of the biggest leadership challenges for me going forward is going to be to make sure that we draw the right lessons from this disaster.'
The oil company BP has said that the cost of cleaning up the oil spillage has risen to €1.3bn.
The firm's share price fell by 9% today as members of the company's board met to discuss whether to suspend dividend payments.
The company also said that its containment cap system at the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico captured 15,200 barrels of crude on Sunday.
The capture rate hit its high on 9 June at 15,800 barrels, and has remained above 15,000 barrels a day since 8 June.
Overall, the cap has collected 134,500 barrels of oil since it was installed on 3 June, according to BP figures.
An undetermined amount of oil continues to escape from the bottom of the cap and out of three vents on the top.
