Sir Paul McCartney is hopeful the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster will pave the way for the rise of "clean, renewable energy" sources in the future.
The Beatles legend is furious about the environmental catastrophe, which has seen gallons of oil gushing into the sea off the coast of Louisiana since a BP rig ruptured in April (10).
But he's hoping the spill, ruled America's worst environmental disaster, will prompt politicians to take an increased interest in saving the planet.
He tells Britain's The Sun, "Sadly we need disasters like this to show people. Some people don't believe in climate warming - like those who don't believe there was a Holocaust.
"But the facts indicate that there's something going on and we've got to be aware of it if we want our kids to inherit a decent world, not a complete nightmare of a planet - clean, renewable energy is for starters."
And the singer has defended U.S. President Barack Obama, who he met for the first time earlier this month (Jun10), who has come under fire for not doing enough to handle the spill.
MCCartney adds, "I don't accept the criticism of Barack over the oil spill. I think he's been great. It's tough if we Brits whinge (complain) that he's whingeing at us. Tough, then don't spill oil.
"BP isn't just a British company any more, it's half American. The thing is, if you do something like that you're not going to get away with it. If the President of the country you spilled oil in tells you off then you've just got to take it or say, 'I'm really sorry, we'll clean it up and pay for it all by next week.' If you create the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history then you're not going to get off that lightly."