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Oil spill is 'Environment's 9/11'

US President Barack Obama has said the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico will have the same impact on the US psyche as 9/11.

In an interview with US website Politico, he said the disaster would "shape how we think about the environment... for years to come".

Mr Obama has arrived in Mississippi on his fourth visit to the affected area. He will also visit Alabama and Florida.

Directors of oil firm BP are to meet to decide whether to suspend dividends.

BP has said that the cost of cleaning up the oil spillage has risen to $1.6bn (£1bn).

BP placed a containment cap on its damaged oil well earlier this month; by last week, it was collecting about 15,000 barrels of oil a day.

It is estimated that some 40,000 barrels (1.7 million gallons) of oil a day might have been gushing out before the well was capped.

On Tuesday, Mr Obama will address the US about the oil spill from the White House in a prime-time televised speech.

A presidential aide said he would outline the next steps his administration would be taking over the spill....

Read entire article at BBC News