Obama heading to Louisiana for update on oil spill

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Intent on showing firm command of the deepening crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama flew to coastal Louisiana on Friday for his second in-person update on the devastating oil spill.

Criticism of Obama is rising as crude continues to gush out of the leak 38 days after an oil rig exploded and sank. Amid fears the crisis that is endangering the gulf region’s wildlife and economy could soon also engulf his presidency, Obama has launched a campaign to step up public engagement and directly confront the public’s anger.

A day earlier, he held a rare White House news conference to address the matter, saying “I take responsibility” for handling what is now considered the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.

On Friday, he interrupted a Memorial Day weekend stay with his family at their Chicago home for the gulf visit, with his first stop a beach south of New Orleans where protective booms have been set up to keep oil from washing ashore.

The president was then scheduled to travel to the U.S. Coast Guard Station in nearby Grand Isle, La., to attend a briefing by Adm. Thad Allen of the Coast Guard, who is overseeing the spill response for the federal government. Obama was to be joined there by the governors of Louisiana, Florida and Alabama. He is expected to spend about three hours in the region.

-- Associated Press