See NY Times editorial titled The Verdict on the Spill; Jan. 12, 2011.

Final Oil Spill Report: Industry Needs ‘Dramatic’ Change; Jan 11, 2011, AOL News.

The Presidential Oil Spill Commission has recommended stricter government regulation of the energy industry and the creation of a new independent safety agency within the Interior Department to help protect against another oil disaster, the panel said in its final report.

Without those sweeping changes, the nation is at risk for another catastrophic oil spill, the panel said.

“If dramatic steps are not taken, at some point another failure will occur, and we will wonder why did the Congress, why did the administration, why did industry, why did the American people allow this to occur?” said Bob Graham, the panel’s co-chair and a former Florida senator and governor.

The panel also called for 80 percent of whatever fines are ultimately assessed against BP and its partners to go toward restoration of the Gulf of Mexico, which has suffered from environmental damage and coastal erosion long before BP’s well blew out last spring.

To read the full report, go to https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-OILCOMMISSION/pdf/GPO-OILCOMMISSION.pdf. Note that this is a huge report — 398 pages.