Bobert is right on this one.
Nothing could be done after the blowout preventer clamps failed. Even that would only have limited but not have stopped the flow from the high pressure formation that the drill encountered.
Until rigs are in place to drill relief wells, the hydrocarbons will continue to flow. Three months may be insufficient time; the one in the Bay of Campeche took nine months, and the flow was smaller.

Bseed is right that the US offshore wells lack the state-of-the-art "fail-safe" techniques. I believe this stupid decision by the regulatory agency pre-dates Cheney and Bush, but it should have been red-flagged and corrected regardless of the admin. in power. It was a cost-saving decision- these are often wrong.

The Gulf is dotted with many wells, but when a 'giant' is encountered, the best equipment may not be enough.

I spent my life in petroleum exploration; the many thousands of professional and technical workers make recommendations based on sound knowledge and experience, but some executives and politicians can override their cautions.

I believe petroleum will remain important; in some 50 years much can be done to bring 'clean' energy sources into play, but energy is only part of what petroleum is used for. Look around you at all the plastic materials used to make much of our goods today- they can be replaced but mostly with other materials based on natural resources.