Obama seeks to reassure Gulf region on federal response to oil spill

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President Obama on Friday sought to reassure Gulf communities that the federal government is committed to helping them deal with the massive oil slick working its way to shore.

In his second public comments in as many days on the disaster, Obama again stressed that the company BP would be responsible for the cleanup, but that the federal government would do all that it could to ensure that people and the environment were helped.

“We are fully prepared to meet our responsibilities to any and all affected communities,” Obama said on Friday addressing the incident, which began with the an explosion and sinking of a deep water oil rig on April 22. “That’s why we have been working closely with state and local authorities since the day of the explosion,” he said.

But beyond the immediate battle against the oil, there is another fight on the horizon. There is a ghost haunting cleanup efforts in the Gulf and it is named Katrina.

At the end of August 2005, Hurricane Katrina swirled through the Gulf killing nearly 2,000 people and causing more than $80 billion in damage. The poor federal response to the disaster also destroyed the already beleaguered political reputation of the Bush administration.

With oil beginning to wash ashore on Friday, the Obama administration is moving aggressively to ensure that that its political future isn’t drowned in a sea of oil.

Obama dispatched top Cabinet officials to tour the scene and monitor cleanup efforts. His administration has been forceful in saying it will hold BP, which operated the well, responsible for cleanup costs which some have pegged at as much as $3 billion in the months to come.

While some local officials have begun grumbling that the federal response has been too slow, the administration has sent officials to the airwaves to explain how deep the commitment is. Obama on Friday personally explained how much material has been sent for the cleanup.

On the policy level, Obama ordered a probe of the causes of the disaster and an inspection of deep-water rigs. Speaking at the White House Rose Garden, Obama said he has ordered Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to report back in 30 days, and any suggestions will be incorporated into future leases to drill for oil.

But the bigger issue is what will the White House do about offshore drilling. Obama wants to open parts of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts to new drilling to gather more energy while the nation develops alternative energy resources.

“Let me be clear,” Obama said Friday morning. “I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security. But I‘ve always said it must be done responsibly for the safety of our workers and our environment.

“The local economies and livelihoods of the people of the Gulf Coast as well as the ecology of the region are at stake.”

-- Michael Muskal
Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal