Markey, Pelosi Defend Obama, Blast BP In Oil Spill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey defended the Obama administration’s response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico during a stop at A123 Systems in Watertown on Wednesday.

While they chose the Massachusetts manufacturer to tout the future of clean energy, they spent much of their news conference explaining the federal response to the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf.

Rep. Markey, who chairs the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, said British Petroleum has misled the government on its ability to respond to any crisis.

"BP has been making it up from the very beginning," Markey said. "They did not have a plan."

But Markey concedes the federal government does not have the equipment or technologies to try to stop the underwater oil flow and must rely on BP for that.

Rep. Pelosi said Congress will pass legislation to make sure such an oil spill never happens again. She also said oil companies that drill offshore should share more of their profits with U.S. taxpayers in the form of royalties.