Obama defends feds’ response to oil spill

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama moved aggressively to show his government is in charge of the Gulf oil spill on Thursday, calling the spill an “unprecedented disaster” and blasting a “scandalously close relationship” between oil companies and regulators.

“The American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort,” Obama told a news conference in the East Room of the White House. He was responding to criticism that his administration had been slow to act and had left BP in charge of plugging the leak.

“I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure this thing is shut down,” Obama declared. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill dominated the hour-long session.

Obama stated many critics failed to realize “this has been our highest priority.”

He conceded that “people are going to be frustrated until it stops.”

Obama announced a series of new steps to deal with the aftermath of the spill, including continuing a moratorium on drilling permits for six months.

He also stated he was suspending planned exploration drilling off the coasts of Alaska and Virginia and on 33 wells currently being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico.

‘Top kill’ procedure under wayThe president spoke as oil giant BP pumped mudlike heavy drilling fluid into the well in hopes of stopping the flow.

He stated while the “top kill” procedure was an example of his administration’s willingness to try “any reasonable strategy” to stop the gusher, the process “offers no guarantee of success.”

Over and over, the president sought to counter criticism that the administration was giving too much leeway to BP.

“Make no mistake, BP is operating at our direction,” he said.

“We will demand they pay every dime they owe for the damage they have done and the painful losses they have caused,” Obama said.

He denounced what he called “the oil industry’s cozy and sometimes corrupt” ties with government regulators.

He spoke shortly after the head of the troubled bureau that oversees off-shore drilling resigned under pressure. The departure of Minerals Management Service Director Elizabeth Birnbaum was announced just before Obama’s news conference began.

Asked about inevitable comparisons between his administration’s handling of the disaster with his predecessor’s handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Obama said: “I’ll leave it to you guys to make those comparisons. … What I’m thinking about is how do you solve the problem?”

“I’m confident people are going to look back and say this administration was on top of what was an unprecedented crisis,” he added.

‘We’ve got to get it right’Still, he acknowledged, “We’ve got to get it right.”

Obama’s insistence that his administration was in charge of dealing with the disaster were a marked change in language. Previously, administration officials had emphasized that while they were overseeing BP’s actions, the oil company had the expertise and equipment to do the job.

As an example of the government’s hands-on approach, Obama stated that BP had wanted to drill a single “relief” well in an effort to eventually stop the leak in several months if all else failed. Instead, the administration insisted on two relief wells being drilled, Obama said.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg , D-N.J., a critic of off-shore drilling, stated Obama took an important step to halt the most imminent environmental threat to the Atlantic coast, but he stated the danger will remain until there is a permanent ban on drilling in the Atlantic.

“BP’s oil catastrophe in the Gulf is a wake-up call for our nation. Giving Big Oil more access to our nation’s waters will only lead to more pollution, more lost jobs and more damage to our economy,” Lautenberg said.

The new measures Obama announced Thursday follow a 30-day safety review of off-shore drilling conducted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at Obama’s direction following the BP oil spill on April 20.

Cautious approachAn administration official familiar with the plan stated Salazar wants to grant further study of proposed drilling technology and oil spill response abilities in Arctic waters. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan is not yet public.

Salazar has stated he wants to take a cautious approach in the Arctic.

Obama ordered Salazar to conduct a review of the nation’s off-shore oil drilling safety after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last month.

In March, Obama and Salazar cancelled a planned 2011 lease sale in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, where oil development was proposed by the Bush administration. They cancelled four scheduled lease sales in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas and stated no additional leases would be offered there until more scientific data are collected.

An administration official stated Salazar believes that fisheries, tourism and environmental values in Bristol Bay make the area inappropriate for oil and gas drilling.

Shell, which has leases in both the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, had sought to start drilling five exploratory wells in those areas this summer. Salazar’s announcement means those wells will not be considered until 2011.

Salazar also is directing the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct an independent evaluation of oil spill risks and spill response abilities in the state.

Shell Oil, the U.S. arm of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, has the backing of Alaska’s political leaders. With few exceptions, they support off-shore drilling, a stance articulated by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP nominee for vice president.

About 90 percent of Alaska’s general fund revenue comes from the petroleum industry. State leaders look to off-shore oil to provide jobs and keep the trans-Alaska pipeline from running dry.

Alaska Democrat Sen. Mark Begich stated he was “frustrated” by the administration’s decision.

“Another year of delay costs money and Alaska jobs,” he added. “The Gulf of Mexico tragedy has highlighted the need for much stronger oversight and accountability of oil companies working offshore, but Shell has updated its plans at the administration’s request and made significant investments to address the concerns raised by the Gulf spill.”

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Submited at Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 7:00 pm on Politics by steve
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