Despite the rhetoric from the Obama administration that Deepwater Horizon threatens government approval for future off-shore oil wells there can be little doubt that the US will continue the drill for oil in the area.
Unfortunately for those hoping that the extent of the environmental disaster unfolding in the area will mandate against more drilling, I would simply point out that ecological catastrophes are part and parcel of the oil industry and as the Miami Herald points out, large scale spills have occurred in the Gulf area before.
The moral outrage by those who I think correctly point out that the damage to the environment is incalculable and is not justified by our greed may ruffle a few feathers in political circles but as the mining lobby in Oz has recently demonstrated, fair mindedness has no place when it comes to considerations of financial profit.
If there is money to be made drilling for oil then that is all that matters. The rest is collateral damage.
UPDATE
Google Earth has some interesting data on Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico Oil Slick
