Politics. On Point.

Last week President Obama praised the team of Admiral Thad Allen, Secretaries Salazar, Chu, Napolitano, Administrators Jackson and Lubchenco, Carol Browner, and the federal science and engineering teams saying, “Today, we achieved an important milestone in our response to the BP oil spill – the final termination of the damaged well that sat deep under the Gulf of Mexico." Oil spewing in the Gulf has stopped, as we know of. But environmentalist still have their doubts.  As they should. Concerns about the aftermath and effects on the region's marine life, fishery industry, and ecosystem, and more recently, the livestock, are still looming. Click  here  to see what a new study has found. The president and his administration have said they are committed to healing the Gulf Coast. "We also remain committed to doing everything possible to make sure the Gulf Coast recovers fully from this disaster. This road will not be easy, but we will continue to work clos...

Tells Americans " Come On Down! " ("And visit")  As President Obama raps up his visit to the Gulf with his family, he remains committed to the people of the region. "The President was clear that though the well has been capped and the oil is no longer spilling from the ocean floor, there is still work to be done." The administration continues to bill BP for the disaster and is making sure BP compensates those affected. With this massive fiasco seemingly behind us, and the cleanup in the foreground, the Commander In Chief is taking somekick butt (yeah, we said it) action. In this new video, President Obama's message is clear. Thought you might like that.  

 Focus Shifts To Mending Communities. NOAA Administrator, Dr. Jane Lubchenco explaining the sealing and containment phase that may have permanently stopped the oil from leaking in the Gulf, as National Incident Commander, Admiral Thad Allen looks on.  Photo/CD Brown. During yesterday's White House press briefing Rear Admiral Thad Allen, White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy Carol Browner, and NOAA's Jane Lubchenco came armed with pie charts and figures to show that the latest effort to contain the Gulf oil spill has been successful, and that for the most part, the oil has either "evaporated or been burned, skimmed and recovered from the wellhead, or dispersed." Dispersed "means broken up from large chunks into smaller chunks", explained Lubchenco. "Dispersed oil is just little tiny droplets that then remain beneath the surface."  The federal goverment released "new, scientific analysis" (that most Americans won...

Aerial photograph of Perdido Pass booming operations and decon station on Tuesday, 27 July 2010. Photo/BP.   " We know we're not done yet and we're still going to apply the same rigor and professionalism in making sure that we keep attacking the oil.." Words spoken during Friday's press event with Admiral Thad Allen, the National Incident Commander for the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill, and Major General Garry Dean on location at Tyndall Air Force Base. In the latest update Admiral Allen explains that the greatest concern surround the cleanup efforts is the relief well. "That's when we will truly end this threat to the environment and the Gulf", said Allen. "Development Driller 3, which is a drill rig, is right now clearing out some debris that was found at the bottom of the well bore caused by the storm passage. They’re clearing that out right now. They will start running the final casing line tomorrow and Sunday. This could poten...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) will re-open 26,388 square miles of Gulf waters to commercial and recreational fishing, it announced today. The reopening of a third of the overall closed area was announced after consultation with FDA and under a re-opening protocol agreed to by NOAA, the FDA, and the Gulf states. “Today’s decision is good news for Gulf fishermen and American consumers,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “Following the best science for this re-opening provides important assurance to the American people that the seafood they buy is safe and protects the Gulf seafood brand and the many people who depend on it for their livelihoods.” Florida Representative, Kendrick Meek (D) responded to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announcement saying, "This announcement is great news to fishermen in Florida and their families. The BP oil spill has had a terrible impact on those who rely on Gulf waters for their livel...

After President Obama sent a $97 million bill to BP last week (the fourth the Administration has sent to date. BP and other responsible parties have paid the first three bills, totaling $122.3 million, in full, the White House reports) reports show BP is working harder to stop the leak in the Gulf. The latest effort, installation of a capping stack is still being monitored. This well integrity test will last at least 6 hours and could last up to 48 hours. How It Works During the test, the three ram capping stack is closed, effectively shutting in the well and all sub-sea containment systems (namely, the Q4000 and Helix Producer systems) have been temporarily stopped. Although it cannot be assured, it is expected that no oil will be released to the ocean during the test. Even if no oil is released during the test, this will not be an indication that oil and gas flow from the wellbore has been permanently stopped. Key BP Oil Spill Contact Numbers:   Report oiled shore...

Let me just say that we continue to be in awe of our First Lady, Michelle Obama who, I might add is not letting any grass (White House garden or other) grow under her feet.  She continues to stay busy and we love what she is doing with young people. The First Lady was scheduled to have another Youth Series at the White House yesterday where she planned to host young people to engage in a youth fitness tennis clinic with the 2010 Wimbledon Champion, Serena Williams .   As you know, Williams cut her foot and was unable to attend.  Then, it rained yesterday and the entire event was postponed (we're disappointed), only to be rescheduled at a later date. But, First Lady Michelle doesn't let rain (or anything else) stop her as her week has already been full of activity with events that included a visit to Panama to take on BP's oil spill ( looking great doing so), speaking at the NAACP's 101st Anniversary , hosting a live chat announcing the relaunch of her Let'...

A pool reporter is providing updates on Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Louisiana where he is there to assess the damages from the BP oil spill. Here's the most recent update (as of 1:01 pm EST). The motorcade arrived at 10 a.m. at the unified command center in downtown New Orleans, where a half-dozen protestors stood outside in a light rain carrying signs that said, "Oil kills." Vice President Biden went to the 14th floor of the 24-story Poydras Plaza , where more than 100 BP, government and military offcials were seated at rows of tables working on laptop computers in a cavernous office dubbed "the bullpen." The workers were arranged in various groupings, such as "Critical Resources Unit," "Documentation Unit," and "Technical Specialists." A large projection TV flashed weather updates and the latest track for Tropical Storm Alex. The offices are the same ones used by FEMA after Hurricane Katrina. Sitting at the h...

Watch all the latest developments in the BP Executives' Capitol Hill hearings  here. The President and the Vice President met with BP executives this week in the Roosevelt Room. Attendees for the meeting included: Adm. Thad Allen, National Incident Commander, Carol Browner, Office of Energy and Climate, Larry Summers, National Economic Council, Bob Bauer, White House Counsel, Don Verrilli, White House Counsel’s Office, Melody Barnes, Domestic Policy Council, Tom Perrelli, Department of Justice, Carl-Henric Svanberg, Chairman, BP, Tony Hayward, CEO, BP, Bob Dudley, Managing Director, BP; Lamar McKay, CEO, BP America, Rupert Bondy, General Counsel, BP, and Jamie Gorelick, WilmerHale. The remarks of the President after the meeting follow. "Good afternoon, everybody. I just concluded a constructive meeting with BP’s chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, and I raised two issues at the meeting. First was the containment of the oil that is still spewing into the Gulf. As I mentioned...

Wants More Offshore Drilling In The Wake of Largest Oil Disaster (Possibly Ever) Governor of Louisiana Piyush "Bobby" Jindal thinks it would be a good idea to continue deepwater offshore drilling. This coming from a politician whose state has already reaped the misfortune of having thousands of barrels of oil saturate the waters in the state he governs. His idea is totally ludicrous.   It's like hearing that an alligator wrestler wants to return to wrestling alligators after having his arm chewed off.  It's like surfers continuing to surf after a shark has beaten off one of their extremities.  (Albeit, people go back in the water. But the risk is great.) Yet Jindal (a nemesis to Obama since before health care reform ) sent a letter to the White House stating that the six month drilling moratorium imposed by President Obama is hurting his state economically. What?   And the millions of gallons of oil spewing into our nations waterway...

Calling  BP "Beyond Pathetic" the watchdog group Public Citizen is staging a protest and citizen's arrest of BP president Tony Hayward . BP's president Tony Hayward "BP has culture indicative to that of Enro n ", eluded Robert Weissman , president of Public Citizen appearing on WPFW's Metro Watch with Gloria Minott .  "They have a culture of curruption." BP, at the height of the recent oil spill was being fined $87.4 million for what regulators said was the company’s failure to correct problems after a 2005 explosion killed 15 workers at a refinery in Texas City, Texas.  More recently, BP was fined $3 million for safety violations at its Toledo, Ohio, refinery.  (See also BP's other crimes ). An unregulated oil industry has companies simply paying fines, but none of the company's executives do any  time in prision for what many call felonious activities. "We want to make a citizen's arrest calling for the emprisonme...

We're Not In Kansas Anymore, Either. Adm. Thad Allen , national incident commander for Deepwater BP oil spill response, provided an update on the ongoing Deepwater BP oil spill response efforts in the Port of New Orleans Administration Building earlier this week. "I think the first thing to understand is, we’re not talking about capping the well anymore; we’re talking about containing the well. The difference between capping the well and absorbing the pressure and being able to hold that until the relief well is completed, we’re at, now, where we’re containing the well, which means that we’re taking the hydrocarbons that are coming up and actually bringing them to the surface and actually producing oil and flaring off natural gas. Since we’re in a containment operation, we don’t want to restrict the flow of pressures on that well bore, because I don’t think we know the conditions of it, given the results of the top kill data that we got back", said Allen. It'...

President Obama on the BP Oil Spill: "This is what I wake up to in the morning and this is what I go to bed at night thinking about." Obama addresses questions from the press on BP, immigration, and more. Photos/CD Brown Yesterday in the East Room of the White House, President Obama responded to a bevy of questions regarding the response and cleanup of the BP Oil Spill, again telling reporters the Administration acted swiftly since Day 1 of the tragedy, and that BP is the responsible party. Obama, stating he has the "brightest minds and most advanced technology in the world" at his disposal working on the oil spill, has delegated a team led by Energy Secretary and Stephen Chu , along with experts who have experience dealing with oil spills. Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, is alleged to have ties to BP . In 2007, BP awarded the bulk of a $500 million grant to the University of California, Berkeley laboratory where Chu was then director. As the oi...