by Agence France-Presse. GRAND ISLE, La. — President Barack Obama told the people of the Gulf Coast Friday they would not be “abandoned,” in his most impassioned remarks yet on the United States’ worst-ever oil spill. He spoke from the Louisiana coast during his second tour of the region since the spill hit. “To the people of the Gulf Coast, I know you’ve weathered your fair share of trials and tragedy,” Obama said, in a reference to Hurricane Katrina and the botched government response. “I know there have been times where you have wondered if you’re being asked to face them alone. I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone. You will not be abandoned. You will not be left behind. The cameras at some point may leave. The media may get tired of the story. But we will not,” he said. “We are on your side, and we will see this through. We’re going to keep at this every day until the leak is stopped, until this coastline is clean, and your communities are made whole again. That’s my promise to you. And that is a promise on behalf of a nation. It is one that we will keep.” In an effort to keep that pledge, Obama ordered a tripling of manpower in coastal regions hit by the Gulf oil slick or where the toxic crude was expected to imminently come ashore. Obama said he had ordered Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Coast Guard chief Admiral Thad Allen to “triple the manpower in places where oil has hit the shore or is within 24 hours of impact.” The president said the move would allow the government to intensify what was already a “historic” response to the disaster. On a tour of a Louisiana beach, accompanied by local and federal officials who updated him on their response, Obama squatted down to pick up and examine tar balls washing ashore. He told reporters he had spotted dolphins offshore, just one of the many species at risk from the thousands of barrels of oil that are spilling into the ocean each day. Boom bust Obama admitted that only a “limited” amount of protective boom was available to shield Gulf coastlines from a massive oil slick and said the government was working out how to make more. He said 3 million feet of hard boom had already been deployed in an effort to stop the biggest oil spill in U.S. history from reaching wetlands and beaches. “There’s a limited amount of boom. We’re going to try to get more boom manufactured, but that may take some time, and that means we’re going to have to make some decisions about how to deploy it effectively,” he said. It was the first time that the president had publicly said there may not be sufficient boom readily available for use in the disaster. Long lines of booms have been deployed in the Gulf of Mexico during the cleanup effort in a bid to keep oil slicks from reaching land, but it’s not a fail-safe plan, as bad weather, for example, can push oil over the top of the barriers. Related Links: The BP oil gusher is just the latest in a long line of assaults on the Gulf of Mexico Egger’s Head: The oil spill Now is the time to transform our energy system
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‘You will not be abandoned,’ Obama tells Gulf Coast
