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Obama: It's "Way Too Early to be Optimistic"
Updated at 6:01 p.m. ET
On his third personal trek to the Gulf disaster, President Obama said Friday he sees some progress in fighting the enormous oil spill but it's "way too early to be optimistic" about BP's latest control effort.
Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf
Aiming to demonstrate command and personal engagement on day 45 of the catastrophe, Mr. Obama criticized the British oil giant for spending money on advertising and paying dividends to shareholders in the midst of crisis.
"What I don't want to hear is when they're spending that kind of money on their shareholders and spending that kind of money on TV advertising that they're nickeling and diming fishermen or small businesses here in the Gulf who are having a hard time," he said.
The president spoke after arriving at the New Orleans airport for his third inspection tour, and his second in eight days, with national frustration boiling over. Mr. Obama indicated he felt it, too, along with residents of the Gulf and the rest of the country.
"This has been a disaster for this region, and people are understandably frightened and concerned about what the next few months and the next few years may hold," Mr. Obama said after attending a briefing with Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the chief federal official for the spill response, and the governors of Louisiana, Florida and Alabama, along with other officials.
He then headed for Grand Isle, La., a small barrier island, to hear from people whose livelihoods are threatened by the spill — the shrimpers, oyster fishermen, shop keepers and hotel workers so dependent on a thriving Gulf. A driving rain forced him to drop plans to travel by helicopter and instead make a 2? hour drive south to the coast.
Along the way, the president's motorcade passed a small clutch of people standing alongside the road waving a cardboard sign that said: "HELP US NOW!!"
At another spot, the side of a building had been adorned with a portrait of Mr. Obama reminiscent of posters of him during his presidential campaign. Instead of "hope" or "change," the words "what now?" were painted on his forehead. Next to that, a painting of the grim reaper carried the BP logo and the words "You killed our Gulf — our way of life."
The president's visit came as engineers with BP worked to settle a funnel-like cap over the deep-sea leak to try to collect some of the crude now fouling four states. It was not clear how much oil was being captured, and some continued to flow, generating frightening photos of seabirds clogged in the muck.
Underscoring the mounting political implications, Mr. Obama abruptly canceled plans for his trip to Indonesia and Australia later this month. Ahead of the Gulf visit, he declared himself furious at a situation that "is imperiling an entire way of life and an entire region for potentially years." He criticized BP for not responding more quickly.
But polls show the public growing more negative toward the president's own handling of the spill, and he was aiming to demonstrate he was staying on top of the situation Friday — without getting in the way. Mr. Obama visited the Gulf region twice in May, and this tour surely will not be his last.
"You never want to take resources away from the response and recovery efforts, so we're certainly mindful of that," said spokesman Robert Gibbs. "At the same time ... I think he'll go as often as he thinks that is productive in aiding those response efforts."
More Oil Spill Coverage
Wildlife in the Gulf
BP: Cap in Place, Oil Leak "Part of the Design"
No Apologies for Obama's Schedule during Oil Spill
Floridians Brace for "Inevitable" Arrival of Oil
Poll: Obama, BP Should be Doing More on Gulf Spill
Louisiana's Slimy New Reality
Oil-Covered Birds Show Distress
Oil Spill Could Hit East Coast
Somewhere between 22 million and 47 million gallons of crude oil have been disgorged into the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, according to government estimates. Eleven workers were killed in the blast.
Mr. Obama told CNN's Larry King on Thursday he was furious that "someone didn't think through the consequences of their actions," and he tried to deflect criticism that he hasn't shown enough emotion about the epic dimensions of the problem.
"I would love to just spend a lot of my time venting and yelling at people," the president said, "but that's not the job I was hired to do. My job is to solve this problem."
Mr. Obama's administration on Thursday handed BP a $69 million bill for recovery costs to date — a figure sure to grow in the weeks and months ahead.
© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. On his third personal trek to the Gulf disaster, President Obama said Friday he sees some progress in fighting the enormous oil spill but it's "way too early to be optimistic" about BP's latest control effort.
Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf
Aiming to demonstrate command and personal engagement on day 45 of the catastrophe, Mr. Obama criticized the British oil giant for spending money on advertising and paying dividends to shareholders in the midst of crisis.
"What I don't want to hear is when they're spending that kind of money on their shareholders and spending that kind of money on TV advertising that they're nickeling and diming fishermen or small businesses here in the Gulf who are having a hard time," he said.
The president spoke after arriving at the New Orleans airport for his third inspection tour, and his second in eight days, with national frustration boiling over. Mr. Obama indicated he felt it, too, along with residents of the Gulf and the rest of the country.
"This has been a disaster for this region, and people are understandably frightened and concerned about what the next few months and the next few years may hold," Mr. Obama said after attending a briefing with Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the chief federal official for the spill response, and the governors of Louisiana, Florida and Alabama, along with other officials.
He then headed for Grand Isle, La., a small barrier island, to hear from people whose livelihoods are threatened by the spill — the shrimpers, oyster fishermen, shop keepers and hotel workers so dependent on a thriving Gulf. A driving rain forced him to drop plans to travel by helicopter and instead make a 2? hour drive south to the coast.
Along the way, the president's motorcade passed a small clutch of people standing alongside the road waving a cardboard sign that said: "HELP US NOW!!"
At another spot, the side of a building had been adorned with a portrait of Mr. Obama reminiscent of posters of him during his presidential campaign. Instead of "hope" or "change," the words "what now?" were painted on his forehead. Next to that, a painting of the grim reaper carried the BP logo and the words "You killed our Gulf — our way of life."
The president's visit came as engineers with BP worked to settle a funnel-like cap over the deep-sea leak to try to collect some of the crude now fouling four states. It was not clear how much oil was being captured, and some continued to flow, generating frightening photos of seabirds clogged in the muck.
Underscoring the mounting political implications, Mr. Obama abruptly canceled plans for his trip to Indonesia and Australia later this month. Ahead of the Gulf visit, he declared himself furious at a situation that "is imperiling an entire way of life and an entire region for potentially years." He criticized BP for not responding more quickly.
But polls show the public growing more negative toward the president's own handling of the spill, and he was aiming to demonstrate he was staying on top of the situation Friday — without getting in the way. Mr. Obama visited the Gulf region twice in May, and this tour surely will not be his last.
"You never want to take resources away from the response and recovery efforts, so we're certainly mindful of that," said spokesman Robert Gibbs. "At the same time ... I think he'll go as often as he thinks that is productive in aiding those response efforts."
More Oil Spill Coverage
Wildlife in the Gulf
BP: Cap in Place, Oil Leak "Part of the Design"
No Apologies for Obama's Schedule during Oil Spill
Floridians Brace for "Inevitable" Arrival of Oil
Poll: Obama, BP Should be Doing More on Gulf Spill
Louisiana's Slimy New Reality
Oil-Covered Birds Show Distress
Oil Spill Could Hit East Coast
Somewhere between 22 million and 47 million gallons of crude oil have been disgorged into the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, according to government estimates. Eleven workers were killed in the blast.
Mr. Obama told CNN's Larry King on Thursday he was furious that "someone didn't think through the consequences of their actions," and he tried to deflect criticism that he hasn't shown enough emotion about the epic dimensions of the problem.
"I would love to just spend a lot of my time venting and yelling at people," the president said, "but that's not the job I was hired to do. My job is to solve this problem."
Mr. Obama's administration on Thursday handed BP a $69 million bill for recovery costs to date — a figure sure to grow in the weeks and months ahead.
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http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/BP-Oil-Gusher-Solution-Fire-BP-Build-a-Sarcophagus/108197122559613
The 1st is to wrap it in mesh wire fencing that gets progressively finer. This spreads the force of the oil over a wider surface area making it more manageable to contain and suppress. It's analogous to wrapping an ACE bandage around your knee.
Next, if necessary, scuttle (lower down into the water) old Navy ships right on top of the gusher. They weigh from 30 - 150 million lbs. The gusher is said to be ? million lbs of upward pressure. You do the math, it?s so simple. If you can drop rocks into water, you can do this!
Employ a flotilla of US Navy, Coast Guard, Marines and Private vessels to drop additional fill-in debris around and the on top, creating a sarcophagus. Fill in with underwater cement. Don't leave our fate in the incompetent hands of BP Engineers. It's our problem America and we must save ourselves! Quit trying to blame and lawsuit our way to the solution. Waiting and watching places our fate in their hands! The Normandy invasion had 7,000 ships moving together across the English Channel, completed in a matter of hours, not days and weeks ? and we can?t do the same? We?ve already been there and done that!
We've put 5 manned space missions on the Moon, they've never even tried. The moon is a quarter million miles away and back. This hole is a few miles out to sea and 1 mile deep. That's nothing! Our Glomar Explorer Mining Ship plucked a Soviet Submarine from 3.5 miles below the surface of the Ocean. This Hole is 1 mile deep! And we can't plug it just like a 3 year old kid stops up a toilet? You cannot be Serious! We can do this!
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On what? You getting impeached? Bummer.
In-your-face-Healthcare, Unaccountable Communist Loving Czars, Boldface Lies, Race-baiting, personal attacks on American Citizens who disagree with you and your Democrat Party, calling Tax Paying Natural Born American Citizens ?nazi?s?, attempting to cover-up or dismiss 8 terrorist attacks or attempted attacks since you stepped into the ?Office of the President?, and your fawning media that is complacently, treacherously, allowing these things to pass unquestioned, unanswered, irrational refusal to show your ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE...
Yep, "Way Too Early to be Optimistic"
For the last 8 years the previous President supported deregulation of these sorts of industries and American's think that in less than 2 years of this man Presidency he would fix 8 years of incompetence! Yea, an I too can click my heals and find that yellow brick road to OZ!
Obama will be a one-term President because American's have an unrealistic view of his expectations. You have the "Right" asking for less government and the "Left" wanting more government intervention on matters related to private industry.
This problem is only BP as they failed to take safeguards to ensure that the well they were drilling from was safe to operate. To blame the government for not having a contingency plan for problems with private companies is opening up the door for future intervention at taxpayer expense. Is this what you want?
He is handling this worse than Bush handled Katrina and that is really saying something.
By the way--did you notice Bushie Jr reading My Pet Goat UPSIDE DOWN during 911? That was a hoot.