Obama Calls for Rolling Back Oil 'Tax Breaks'

As the now well-known BP leak continues to spew oil into the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama has announced that it is time to begin reducing tax breaks for oil companies. According to this Washington Post story, the White House hopes to use the funds to develop and research clean energy sources.

Obama made the comments Wednesday in prepared remarks for a speech at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

He said the catastrophic Gulf oil spill shows the country must move toward clean energy by embracing energy efficiency, tapping natural gas and nuclear power and eliminating tax breaks for big oil.

Obama said that the Gulf 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 America cannot rely solely on fossil fuels.