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The latest —

President Obama visited Louisiana yesterday afternoon to observe the response effort to the BP oil spill, which he called a “potentially unprecedented environmental disaster.” “Your government will do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to stop this crisis,” he pledged. But Obama said taxpayers would not be on the hook for the cleanup, saying “BP is responsible for this leak — BP will be paying the bill.”

Speaking to a mostly Republican audience near Kansas City on Saturday, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin called the Gulf Coast oil spill “very tragic,” but said the U.S. should continue drilling offshore. “I want our country to be able to trust the oil industry,” she said, adding, “We’ve got to tap domestically because energy security will be the key to our prosperity.”

Oil giant BP said today that it will pay “all necessary and appropriate clean-up costs” related to the recent oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. “BP takes responsibility for responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. We will clean it up,” said a company statement.