2010-06-03 09:42

NASA MODIS satellite image, taken May 23, 2010, of the Gulf of Mexico shows the extent of the oil released from the Deepwater Horizon spill. The oil can be seen as a sheen on the water surface.[File photo / Xinhua]

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama vowed Wednesday to find the votes to pass a stalled energy bill in the Senate, using the huge Gulf of Mexico oil spill to advance efforts to boost production of renewable fuels.

"The House of Representatives has already passed a comprehensive energy and climate bill, and there is currently a plan in the Senate - a plan that was developed with ideas from Democrats and Republicans - that would achieve the same goals. The votes may not be there right now, but I intend to find them in the coming months," Obama said at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

He said that the oil spill "may prove to be a result of human error - or corporations taking dangerous shortcuts that compromised safety" - but that deepwater drilling is inherently risky and the US cannot rely solely on fossil fuels.

"The time has come, once and for all, for this nation to fully embrace a clean energy future."

Obama also said the country's continuing dependence on fossil fuels "will jeopardize our national security, it will smother our planet and will continue to put our economy and our environment at risk."