by Agence France-Presse. President Barack Obama unveiled plans Tuesday for a fourth visit to the Gulf of Mexico next week, with his three-state tour reflecting the widening footprint of the oil-spill disaster zone. Obama will visit Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, all of which have coastlines, fishing industries, and tourist beaches threatened by the massive oil slick spawned by the April 20 explosion on a BP-operated rig. “On Monday, June 14 and Tuesday, June 15, President Obama will travel to Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida to further assess the latest efforts to counter the BP oil spill,” the White House said in a statement. Obama has made three previous trips to the disaster area, all of them to Louisiana, until now the main focus of efforts to mop up the oil slick, and to plug the ruptured well that caused America’s worst environmental disaster. Obama talks back On the 50th day of the disaster, meanwhile, Obama lashed out at media “talking heads” who have criticized his response. The president also said if it was up to him, he would fire BP CEO Tony Hayward over several flippant public comments. “He wouldn’t be working for me after making any of those statements,” Obama said on the NBC “Today Show.” Hayward has since apologized for his remarks. Obama said he had not spoken to Hayward since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, saying there would be little point. “When you talk to a guy like a BP CEO, he’s going to say all the right things to me. I’m not interested in words. I’m interested in actions.” Hayward can expect another tough ride next week: A key House of Representatives panel Tuesday said he would testify on the disaster on June 17. Obama told NBC he was looking for some “ass to kick” as recriminations mount and oil reaps a dreadful toll on seabirds, Louisiana wetlands, teeming fishing grounds, and idyllic beaches. He rejected claims he had been too cool or slow in his response. “I’m going to push back hard on this because I think that this is an idea that got into folks’ heads and the media is running with it,” he said. “I was down there a month ago, before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf.” A recent CBS News poll found only 38 percent of Americans approve of the way the administration is dealing with the spill. A Washington Post/ABC survey revealed that more Americans disapprove of Obama’s response to the oil spill than disapprove of Bush’s Katrina performance. Offshore clamp-down Federal authorities on Tuesday ordered offshore drilling rigs to implement new safety measures in the wake of the disastrous BP oil spill. The new directive from the Interior Department allows shallow-water drilling — in depths of up to 500 feet — to continue if rigs are in compliance with the safety rules. The new rules call for certification from a professional engineer before beginning any new drilling operations. They also call for new procedures for well casing and cement and at least two independently tested barriers for the well, plus third-party verification of the blowout preventer — the device that failed on the Deepwater Horizon rig. “Oil and gas from the Outer Continental Shelf remains an important component of our energy security as we transition to the clean energy economy, but we must ensure that offshore drilling is conducted safely and in compliance with the law,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. He noted that the six-month deepwater drilling moratorium — affecting new wells at depths over 500 feet — will remain in place but that “shallow water drilling may continue under the stronger safety requirements that we are implementing today.” The new rules also call for a secondary control system for subsea blowout preventers with remote-operated vehicle (ROV) intervention capabilities. The subsea blowout preventer “must have an emergency shut-in system in the event of lost power,” the rules say, along with additional safety protections. Officials said any drilling operation failing to comply with the new rules can be shut down. Additional rules may be issued in the coming days, said Bob Abbey, who is the director of the Bureau of Land Management and who has also been called upon to serve as head of the troubled Minerals Management Service. “We are following an orderly, responsible process for implementing stronger safety and environmental requirements of offshore drilling,” said Abbey. “We need to make sure that drilling is done right, that it is done safely, and that oil and gas operators are following the law.” Meanwhile, back at the spill The undersea effort to capture spewing oil is accelerating. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is heading the government response, said BP engineers had captured 14,842 barrels of oil over the last 24 hours from a containment cap placed over the well, a significant increase from Monday’s tally. It remains unclear how much oil is spewing out of the busted wellhead, and officials have warned they will not be able to siphon off all of the excess crude until relief wells are dug — likely not until August. “We’ve gone from about 6,000 barrels up to almost 15,000,” Allen said. Upper government estimates of the volume of escaping oil peak at 25,000 barrels per day — but some private studies have hit a higher figure. Underwater video footage of the wellhead and the containment cap installed by BP last week still appeared to show substantial oil escaping into the sea from the ruptured well. BP tries to play nice with critters BP announced on Tuesday that it would donate revenue from its ill-fated Deepwater Horizon well to create a new wildlife fund. The fund would seek to “restore, improve, and protect wildlife habitat along the coastline of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida,” the company said in a statement. “We’ve already launched the largest environmental response in history, and BP is committed to protecting the ecosystems and wildlife on the Gulf Coast. Proceeds from the sale of oil recovered from the MC252 well will be used to further this commitment,” said Hayward. “We believe these funds will have a significant positive impact on the environment in this region.” The company said it was impossible at this time to determine how much money could be provided to the fund. Related Links: New Urbanist progress in Atlanta Obama climate bill game plan may change post-spill Graham says he won’t vote for the climate bill he wrote
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Obama plans another Gulf trip, slams critics, ups drilling oversight
