WASHINGTON — Amid complaints his administration moved too slowly in response to a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama rushed to Louisiana yesterday and laid the blame squarely on BP.
“BP is responsible for this leak. BP will be paying the bill,” Obama said after getting a firsthand look at the endangered Louisiana shoreline.
COAST GUARD: AT LEAST 3 MONTHS TO CONTAIN OIL SPILL
The leak began on April 20, when an oil rig exploded, presumably killing 11 workers.
Calling the spill “a massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster,” Obama explained, “That’s why the federal government has launched a coordinated, all-hands-on-deck [and] relentless response to this crisis from Day One.”
He insisted that BP, the company that was leasing the rig, pay for the cost of the cleanup and damage.
“The oil that is still leaking from the well could seriously damage the economy and the environment of our Gulf states and it . . . could jeopardize the livelihoods of thousands of Americans who call this place home,” Obama said.
The 30-mile-long oil slick was about nine miles southeast of the Louisiana coast last night.
The spill also poses political peril, as critics draw comparisons with then-President George W. Bush’s bungled handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano tried to head off criticism, hitting the White House talking point that the administration has taken an “all hands on deck” approach.
She said any comparison between the ruptured BP oil well and Katrina was “a total mischaracterization.”
Obama flew to New Orleans aboard Air Force One and then traveled by motorcade about two hours south to Venice. Bad weather and a tornado watch prevented the president from taking a helicopter to the command center.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal met Obama in New Orleans and rode with the president to Venice.
Last week, Obama dispatched the heads of the Interior and Homeland Security departments, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the Gulf Coast. With Post Wire Service