Politics. On Point.

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...

Interior Department Announces Reforms to Enhance Oil and Gas Oversight As part of an ongoing agenda to change the way the Department of the Interior does business, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a set of reforms that will provide federal inspectors more tools, more resources, more independence, and greater authority to enforce laws and regulations that apply to oil and gas companies operating on the Outer Continental Shelf. Salazar has also enlisted the National Academy of Engineering to provide a set of fresh eyes on the issues surrounding the Deepwater Horizonincident and an independent, science-based understanding of what happened. NOAA Modifies Fishing Closed Areas in Gulf; 93 Percent Remains Open NOAA’s Fisheries Service modified the area closed to fishing in the Gulf of Mexico due to the spill, which will include federal waters seaward of Louisiana state waters in the vicinity of Timbalier Island to waters off Florida’s Choctawhatchee Bay. These changes w...