Fact Check: Gaps in Obama's Oil Spill Speech

In assuring Americans that BP won't control the compensation fund for Gulf oil spill recovery, President Obama failed to mention that the government won't control it, either.

That means it's anyone's guess whether the government can, in fact, make BP pay all costs related to the spill.

Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf

Obama aimed high in his prime-time Oval Office address Tuesday night - perhaps higher than the facts support and history teaches - as he vowed to restore livelihoods and nature from the still-unfolding calamity in the Gulf of Mexico.

A look at some of his statements and how they compare with those facts:

OBAMA: "We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused and we will do whatever's necessary to help the Gulf Coast and its people recover from this tragedy. ... Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company's recklessness. And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent, third party."

THE FACTS: An independent arbiter is no more bound to the government's wishes than an oil company's. In that sense, there is no certainty BP will be forced to make the Gulf economy whole again or that taxpayers are off the hook for the myriad costs associated with the spill or cleanup. The government can certainly press for that, using legislative and legal tools. But there are no guarantees and the past is not reassuring.

It took 20 years to sort through liability after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, and in the end, punitive damages were slashed by the courts to about $500 million from $2.5 billion. Many people who had lost their livelihoods in the spill died without ever seeing a check.

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OBAMA: "In the coming days and weeks, these efforts should capture up to 90 percent of the oil leaking out of the well."

THE FACTS: BP and the administration contend that if all goes as planned, they should be able to contain nearly 90 percent of the worst-case oil flow. But that's a big "if." So far, little has gone as planned in the various remedies attempted to shut off or contain the flow. Possibly as much as 60,000 barrels a day is escaping. BP would need to nearly triple its recovery rate to reach the target.

--

OBAMA: Temporary measures will capture leaking oil "until the company finishes drilling a relief well later in the summer that is expected to stop the leak completely."

THE FACTS: That's the hope, but experts say the relief well runs the same risks that caused the original well to blow out. It potentially could create a worse spill if engineers were to accidentally damage the existing well or tear a hole in the undersea oil reservoir.

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OBAMA: "From the very beginning of this crisis, the federal government has been in charge of the largest environmental cleanup effort in our nation's history."

THE FACTS: Early on, the government established a command center and put Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen in charge of coordinating the overall spill response. But officials also repeatedly have emphasized that BP was "responsible" and they have relied heavily on BP in making decisions from hiring cleanup workers to what oil dispersing chemicals to use. Local officials in the Gulf region have complained that often they don't know who's in charge - the government or BP.

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OBAMA: "We have approved the construction of new barrier islands in Louisiana to try and stop the oil before it reaches the shore."

THE FACTS: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and local officials pleaded for weeks with the Army Corps of Engineers and the spill response command for permission to build about 40 miles of sand berms along the barrier islands.

State officials applied for an emergency permit to build the berms May 11, but as days went by Jindal became increasingly angry at federal inaction. The White House finally agreed to a portion of the berm plan on June 2. BP then agreed to pay for the project.

The corps was worried that in some cases such a move would alter tides and drive oil into new areas and produce more harm than good.

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OBAMA: "Already, I have issued a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling. I know this creates difficulty for the people who work on these rigs, but for the sake of their safety and for the sake of the entire region, we need to know the facts before we allow deepwater drilling to continue."

THE FACTS: Obama issued a six-month moratorium on new permits for deepwater drilling but production continues from existing deepwater wells.

(CBS)

More Coverage of Obama's Speech:

Obama: We Will Fight Oil Spill With Everything We Got
Watch the Speech
Full Text of Obama's Speech
Chip Reid: Obama's "Battle" Metaphor Runs Into Problems
Mark Knoller: Obama Offers Strong Words But No Magic Formula
Daniel Farber: Obama Treads Water and Oil in the Oval Office
Reaction: What Happened to Cap and Trade?
Sen. Vitter: Still No Urgency in Gulf Coast Response
Energy Reform Remains Stalled on Capitol Hill
What Will Happen Next?
CBSNews.com Special Report: Disaster in the Gulf

[pragmatist1]

The president is so arrogant, he believes whatever he says just because he's said it. He also diminishes the intellect of the average person by talking down to them with his arrogant rhetoric.

[fxr60]

Thank heavens for fact check ! This FINALLY proves what MOST of us already knew-Obama twists things around and tells half truths and lies. You can't believe what he says!! He used last night's speech to promote cap and trade-all political. He has no ideal how to fix anything!I knew from day one he was in over his head and we were in for a LONG ROUGH ride, all talk-no leadership whatsoever!! He should have called BP from day one and talked to them on IMMEDIATE things they could be doing, taking the help that was offered from other countries, giving Gov. Jindal what he needed,etc. Never even talked to the famlies of the men killed for 53 days! Unbelievable!! Come on 2012 !!! Get him out of here and get a MAN in!!

[imthaid]

He is going to help the people who lost their livelihoods just like he helped the working class get health insurance. They will have to pay for their recovery themselves at 300% inflated prices.
Trust and believe if a quart of oil was spilled on a bankers front yard there would be 50 clean up crews there within 2 hours soaking up the mess with $1000 bills.

[imthaid]

He is going to help the people who lost their livelihoods just like he helped the working class get health insurance. They will have to pay for their recovery themselves at 300% inflated prices.

[wfw3536]

I am glad the media is finally starting to write about some of the misinformation that Obama and his administration have been giving out to the public. It is apparent this administration does not have a specific plan after his speech last night. How sad after 57 days. The folks in the gulf thought the president would help with the clean up, but has sadly dropped the ball.

[010sonny]

This is going to be a long process, going into decades into the future. Monetary payments for damages to be expected. Those funds will be assimilated to a variety of agencies and will dissipate without any long lasting benefits. We could increase the benefit factor to our communities for immediate and long term benefits. Installations of windmills to the various local communities that have been infected. Employment and materials to be garnished from the local communities. Energies derived to be distributed by those communities. Maintenance support, furnished from those communities and to any future endeavors for alternative energies that may result from this scenario, as any future hidden losses may come to arise to support additional expansions. The more errors in black the more green for us.

[scoutsout80]

Obama and his admin are children at play in an adult world....thanks America for voting in an inexperienced law teacher with a no executive experience.....what did we expect with this no nuts?

[jimbom121]

So the last administration was that much better? They were 100 time worse.

[quietfireII]

So you would rather have McCain-Palin? Scoutsout80 you're an idiot!

[soap-suds]

"it's anyone's guess --
perhaps higher than the facts support --
the past is not reassuring --
Possibly as much as 60,000 barrels a day -- etc"

Some journalism, this article should be posted as an opinion piece.



If the government were to directly control the claims the comments would gripe that they were not doing it right. If the government tries to make it independent the comments would gripe that they were not doing it right. If the government allowed BP to do it, the comments claim the government is allowing BP to not do it right. In other words, there is no way the government could accomplish the claims process without gripes.......

[bcpats]

He is pathetic in his rhetoric. Evidently he thinks the average citizen is ignorant enough to believe the words he is reading. How can he even believe what he is saying ?!?!?! Perhaps his speeches are written by others, so he just reads what is put in front of him.

Sounds more like he's back on the campaign trail.

[nojoy01]

"Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company's recklessness."
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Sounds good. And something certainly needs to be done to ensure that compensation for damages as a result of the leak are not paid by US taxpayers. But I do have a few questions 1. Do you, as President of the United States, have the legal authority (at this time, not counting any legislation that may be passed "after the fact") to require BP to, in effect, post a "damage deposit"? 2. What legal options do you have at your disposal if, in effect, BP says "no, we will pay claims as they are presented & verified"? 3. You used the word "resources". What will your response be if BP offers to post a few Billion dollars worth (at it's current value) of BP stock? That is, after all, a "resource". 4. How will you determine how many/much "resources" BP will have to post?