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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/us-plea-to-avoid-more-oil-spills.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="The oil industry and the government need to do more to reduce the chances of another large-scale oil spill, like the BP blow-out" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/min-us-plea-to-avoid-more-oil-spills.jpg" alt="The oil industry and the government need to do more to reduce the chances of another large-scale oil spill, like the BP blow-out"/></a></p>
<p>The oil industry and the government need to do more to reduce the chances of another large-scale oil spill, a US presidential panel investigating the BP well blow-out has declared.</p>
<p>Its seven members unanimously endorsed 15 separate recommendations in the wake of the largest offshore oil spill in US history. Many of the proposals will require action by Congress.</p>
<p>The panel called for increasing budgets and training for the federal agency that regulates offshore drilling; increasing the liability cap for damages when companies drill offshore; dedicating 80% of fines and penalties from the BP spill to restoration of the Gulf; and lending more weight to scientific opinions by other federal scientists in decisions about drilling.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is our government&#8217;s responsibility that exploration and extraction occur in ways that are beneficial to the country,&#8221; said panel co-chair and former Florida Senator Bob Graham. &#8220;Drilling offshore is a privilege to be earned, not a right to be exercised by private corporations.&#8221;</p>
<p>If the recommendations are not carried out, &#8220;the probability of another failure will be dramatically greater,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>The panel said Congress should draft legislation to create an independent safety agency and a separate environmental office to evaluate the risks of oil drilling to natural resources.</p>
<p>US regulations for offshore drilling should be at least as stringent as those in other oil-producing nations and require oil companies to adopt safety procedures common elsewhere but lacking in the Gulf, it said.</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, said on Monday that the department had already &#8220;undertaken an aggressive overhaul&#8221; to increase safety and ensure responsible oil and gas development.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have made significant progress over the last eight months, but these reforms must continue,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>The panel also called for an industry-led safety institute, similar to the one created by nuclear power producers after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident.</p>
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