More than a month ago, on April 20, 2010, BP’s offshore oil drilling platform - Deepwater Horizon - suffered a catastrophic explosion that caused oil to leak into the Gulf of Mexico. The oil has been leaking unabated since, with only minor progress made to slow the volume of oil.
Nine days after the explosion, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama had directed government officials to make sure “the entire government is doing everything possible to respond to this incident.”
Gibbs: “In addition, the President has directed responding agencies to devote every resource to not only respond to this incident but to determine its cause.” (Robert Gibbs Press Briefing, “Press Briefing on the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf Coast,” The White House, 4/29/10)
Ten days after the explosion, on April 30, 2010, the White House announced there were no immediate plans for President Obama to go to the Gulf to observe the “spreading oil spill.” Then the White House announced Obama would go to the Gulf the next day, which was Sunday May 2, 2010.
While visiting the Gulf, Obama promised the government would do everything humanly possible to stop the leak and the spread of the oil.
Obama Promised To “Spare No Effort” And “Fully Coordinate” The Response To The Crisis. “[A]s President of the United States, I'm going to spare no effort to respond to this crisis for as long as it continues. And we will spare no resource to clean up whatever damage is caused. And while there will be time to fully investigate what happened on that rig and hold responsible parties accountable, our focus now is on a fully coordinated, relentless response effort to stop the leak and prevent more damage to the Gulf.” (President Barack Obama, “Remarks By The President On Oil Spill,” The White House, 5/2/10)
Obama Said “Every American Affected By This Spill Should Know This: Your Government Will Do Whatever It Takes, For As Long As It Takes, To Stop This Crisis.” (President Barack Obama, “Remarks By The President On Oil Spill,” The White House, 5/2/10)
21 days after Obama visited the Gulf and committed the full resources of the government to respond to the oil crisis, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar threatened to push BP aside and install the government in the lead role to stop the leak and contain the oil.
“Interior Secretary Ken Salazar On Sunday . . . Threatened To Remove [BP] From Its Lead Role In The Containment Effort.” (Ben Geman, “Angry Salazar Threatens To Push BP Aside In Oil Spill Containment Effort,” The Hill, 5/23/10)
More Than A Month After The Explosion, Salazar Criticized BP For Failing To Stop Oil From Leaking And “Stop The Pollution From Spreading.” “I am angry and I am frustrated that BP has been unable to stop this well from leaking and to stop the pollution from spreading. We are 33 days into this effort and deadline after deadline has been missed.” (Ben Geman, “Angry Salazar Threatens To Push BP Aside In Oil Spill Containment Effort,” The Hill, 5/23/10)
Even Still, Salazar Reiterated That BP Is Responsible For “Everything That Needs To Happen.” “With respect to the rest of the responses, including keeping the oil from coming near shore and onshore and dealing with those ecological values, BP, again, is the responsible party and is on the hook for doing everything that needs to happen.” (Ben Geman, “Angry Salazar Threatens To Push BP Aside In Oil Spill Containment Effort,” The Hill, 5/23/10)
But Salazar Also Said He Wasn’t Confident BP Knew Exactly What It Was Doing. “Do I have confidence that they know exactly what they're doing? No, not completely.” (Ben Geman, “Angry Salazar Threatens To Push BP Aside In Oil Spill Containment Effort,” The Hill, 5/23/10)
Then Salazar Said If The Government Found That BP Isn’t Doing Everything That Can Be Done, The Government Will Push Them Out Of The Way. “If we find that they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way appropriately and we'll move forward to make sure that everything is being done to protect the people of the Gulf Coast, the ecological values of the Gulf Coast, and the values of the American people.” (Ben Geman, “Angry Salazar Threatens To Push BP Aside In Oil Spill Containment Effort,” The Hill, 5/23/10)
But Salazar Also Said “BP Is ‘Throwing Everything They Can’” At The Oil Spill. (Ben Geman, “Angry Salazar Threatens To Push BP Aside In Oil Spill Containment Effort,” The Hill, 5/23/10)
Okay, so basically Salazar is saying that after 33 days he has to come to the conclusion that BP is doing everything it can to stop the oil leak and contain the oil, but that he isn’t confident that BP knows what it is doing and is threatening that at some point the government might push them out of the way.
Cue the brilliant Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who a week ago said the government doesn’t have the resources or expertise to handle the oil leak or contain the spread of the pollution.
“Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano Acknowledged Monday That The Federal Government Doesn't Have The Resources Or Expertise To Deal With An Oil Spill 5,000 Feet Below The Sea, And Must Largely Depend On Oil Companies To Deal With An Incident Of Such Magnitude.” (Erika Bolstad, “Napolitano: Feds Lack Expertise To Deal With Deepwater Spill,” McClatchy, 5/17/10)
• “Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano the first of several cabinet officials scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill this week, admitted the government has ‘limited capability and expertise’ in dealing with such disasters in very deep water.” (Jake Sherman, “Napolitano Defends Oil Spill Response,” Politico, 5/17/10)
So, does the government, from the White House on down, know what it is doing, much less saying? The President promised the government would spare no resources to stop the leak and contain the oil. Nearly a month later, after daily reminders that BP is responsible for the leak and containment, the Interior Secretary says BP is trying really hard, but doesn’t know what it is doing and that the government might take over, even though the Homeland Security Secretary said the government isn’t capable either. Not only do these conflicting statements make no sense whatsoever, it demonstrates that the government is not doing everything it can and doesn’t plan to until it decides to.
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