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Obamas begin 10-day vacation in Martha’s Vineyard

Posted on August 20, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

(CNN) — President Barack Obama and his family begin a week-long vacation in Martha’s Vineyard on Friday — the president’s second time on the island off the coast of Massachusetts.

In 2009, Obama spent time there golfing and hanging out with family and friends.

“It’s a beautiful part of the country. It has really nice beaches and the folks are really great,” Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters Thursday. “The food is terrific. And it’s some place that the president went before he was president and likes to go back because it’s a comfortable place where he can rest and recharge the batteries a little bit.”

Some have questioned why the Obamas have chosen to go to an elite holiday spot in Massachusetts instead of the Gulf Coast, as Obama had encouraged Americans to help bolster tourism there. The first family — minus eldest daughter Malia — did visit Panama City, Florida, August 14-15, however. There, the Obamas swam in the Gulf of Mexico and played miniature golf, and the president met with business leaders about the BP oil spill and its effect on the region.

Burton said this vacation, which will last 10 days, will also include some work.

“Well, he’ll continue to get his intelligence briefings, and he’ll also be getting briefings on the economy and other issues as they come up,” he said. “But as any of you guys who have covered these vacations before know, there’s other things that come up and he’ll obviously attend to those as necessary.”

The island, a vacation spot of the rich and famous, was a favorite getaway for another Democratic president as well: Bill Clinton, who spent plenty of time there.

George W. Bush, however, preferred to unwind at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Obamas begin 10-day vacation in Martha’s Vineyard

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Obama on Gulf: ‘Job is not finished’

Posted on August 14, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Panama City, Florida (CNN) — On a visit to the Gulf Coast on Saturday, President Barack Obama said that while the gushing undersea BP oil well had been capped, the administration remains committed to ensuring a full cleanup and recovery for those crippled by the disaster.

“I’m here to tell you our job is not finished and and we are not going anywhere until it is,” Obama said after meeting with government and business leaders in Panama City, Florida.

“That’s a message I wanted to come here and deliver directly to the people along the Gulf Coast,” he said. “Because it’s the men and women of this region who have felt the burden of this disaster, who have watched with anger and dismay as their livelihoods and way of life were threatened these past few months.”

Obama arrived in Florida on Saturday, his fifth visit to the Gulf Coast since the start of the oil disaster, with his wife, Michelle, and daughter Sasha. He will spend the weekend on the coast in a trip intended to relay long-term support for economically devastated areas.

By his holiday on the beach, he hoped to change public perceptions and mitigate the effects of the disaster. He reminded America that the Gulf Coast was open for business.

“As a result of the cleanup effort, beaches all along the Gulf Coast are clean, safe, and open for business. That’s one of the reasons Michelle, Sasha, and I are here,” he said.

Many had wondered whether Obama would take a presidential plunge into the warm waters of the Gulf to send his message home.

Obama said he would take a dip but he wasn’t going to be shirtless in front of cameras. Obama caused a bit of a tabloid stir when he took off his shirt to reveal a muscular physique during trips to Hawaii.

The president and first lady participated in a roundtable discussion with Obama’s Gulf Coast recovery chief, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and local mayors and business leaders in the Panama City area.

He said he spoke with Lee Ann Leonard, general manager of By the Sea Resorts, who has seen a big decline in tourism. She told Obama that June wasn’t bad but July was tough and that she was hoping to rebound in August and September.

Visitors spent more than $34 billion in 2008 in congressional districts along the Gulf Coast, sustaining 400,000 jobs. The effects of the oil spill on the region’s travel industry could last up to three years and cost up to $22.7 billion, according to an analysis conducted last month by Oxford Economics for the U.S. Travel Association.

In preparing the research, Oxford Economics looked at current spending, government models predicting oil flow and the effect of 25 past crises on tourism to develop a model to gauge the Gulf disaster’s impact.

Case studies of past disasters — including the SARS respiratory disease outbreak, Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Asian tsunami — show that tourism often is affected beyond the disaster area and long after the resolution of the crisis.

Meanwhile, National Incident Commander Thad Allen said Saturday he is ordering BP to conduct additional pressure tests before giving a go ahead for finishing a relief well that would permanently seal the ruptured undersea well.

It will take a few days before the results of those tests are assessed, Allen said in a teleconference with reporters. It will take up to 96 hours after that before the well can be intercepted, he said.

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“We will kill the well. The relief well be executed. The bottom kill will be executed,” he said.

Allen said crews probably did “too good a job on the top kill.” Cement and mud got into a core area of the well. But Allen said it’s not clear how thick the cement layer is, or how vulnerable it might be to pressure inside the well.

The BP oil well, which ruptured April 20 after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, spilled more than 2 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico before being successfully shut.

Since then, fresh, green grass has started growing again in some of the hardest-hit marshes of southern Louisiana, but oil continues to wash ashore in some places.

Obama said Saturday the government will continue to monitor the oil in the ocean as well as any that hits the shore.

“I won’t be satisfied until the environment has been restored, no matter how long it takes,” he said.

CNN’s Ed Henry contributed to this report.

Obama on Gulf: ‘Job is not finished’

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Obama vacation brings rest, relaxation and rebuke

Posted on July 17, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

(CNN) — President Obama and his family arrived Friday for a weekend getaway in Maine, but along with a little rest and relaxation comes criticism that the president is taking it easy with the Gulf of Mexico oil crisis in a critical phase.

The Obamas plan to spend the weekend on Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park. The trip marks the president’s third weekend vacation since the oil disaster began in April.

The Republican National Committee launched a website blasting what it considers Obama’s “leisure activities or missteps” during the oil disaster, like playing golf, attending concerts and vacationing in Asheville, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; and now Maine.

Obama has also faced criticism for scheduling a trip up north, instead of vacationing in the Gulf, as he advised other Americans to do.

“Presidents are certainly entitled to vacation, just like everybody else, but there is a fine line as to when presidents should do it, what they should and where they should do it,” said Brad Blakeman, a former member of President George W. Bush’s senior staff and the deputy assistant for appointments and scheduling.

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“Presidents have to be cognizant of the fact that everything they do is going to be scrutinized,” said Blakeman, who also is a professor for Georgetown University’s Semester in Washington program.

Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons said the Republican criticism is “galling,” considering Bush’s frequent trips to Camp David and his home in Crawford, Texas.

“Barack Obama is working as hard as any president that we’ve had in recent history and certainly harder than the most immediate previous president,” he said.

CBS’s Mark Knoller, who keeps track of presidents’ comings and goings, calculated that Bush spent all or part of 977 days at Camp David or in Texas during his two terms.

Blakeman noted that visits to those locations were working trips and not getaways. Bush’s staff would travel with him, and work would continue as usual. The Crawford ranch was known as the “Western White House” because of the infrastructure there.

As for calls that Obama should vacation in the Gulf, Simmons said, “Where he chooses to take his days off should really be up to him. We don’t want to get into a situation where the president is making familial vacation decisions based upon polling or political maneuvers.”

Scott Stanzel, Bush’s deputy press secretary who often traveled with the president when he was away from the White House, said that changing locations provided a good opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of Washington.

“President Bush, on the weekends, would often go to Camp David because the size of the bubble you are in expands, so you can go out for a walk or bike ride without having to arrange security detail,” he said.

Stanzel was in Crawford with Bush for a number of crises that could not have been planned for, like the conviction of Saddam Hussein, the death of President Ford and the assassination of Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto.

Bush was notified of Bhutto’s death immediately and delivered a statement to the press pool. “It would have almost been like we were at the White House in terms of the teams that would convene and talk about the issues surrounding that assassination,” Stanzel said.

The problem for Obama, Stanzel said, is the visuals that could come out of his trip. A picture of Obama playing golf alongside images from the Gulf could send a negative message.

The president is the president wherever he is.
–Paul Begala, former adviser to President Clinton

Paul Begala, a CNN contributor and former adviser to President Clinton, said that vacationing or not, “The president is the president wherever he is.

“I thought it was silly when people attacked Bush for going on vacation, so I’ll be consistent and say it’s silly when people attack President Obama for going on vacation,” he said.

“Of all of the concerns that Americans may have, they do not need to worry whether President Obama is a hard-working man. They may agree or disagree with his policies, but there is just no doubt that the guy is busting his rear end.”

Obama vacation brings rest, relaxation and rebuke

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Senator warns of terrorist threat to oil rigs

Posted on July 13, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — While the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has put accidental spills squarely in the national spotlight, one U.S. senator is warning of another possible threat: deliberate sabotage.

Democrat Jim Webb of Virginia is calling on the Obama administration to develop plans to safeguard offshore platforms from attack by terrorists.

The senator, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, made his case in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

“While Congress will continue to scrutinize BP and regulatory agencies, I write to urge you to also be vigilant against deliberate acts, such as an attack or sabotage, that could similarly devastate the region,” Webb said in the letter, referring to the Gulf Coast. But he wants the security plans adopted for all U.S. coastal areas.

While there are no oil derricks off Virginia’s coast, Webb, the state’s senior senator, favors oil and gas exploration in Virginia waters. He also backs a controversial moratorium in deepwater drilling ordered by the Interior Department, until risks and safeguards can be better assessed.

Webb notes in the letter that the BP oil spill is the worst environmental disaster in the country’s history. He said that, “With dozens of wells operating in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, we must employ policies that mitigate all types of risk.”

The senator said that a lack of vigilance on security issues “could leave the marine ecosystem, as well as certain areas of our national security, at great risk.”

He’s asking the federal agencies to assess how vulnerable offshore oil rigs are to attack and make recommendations to Congress for safeguarding them.

The senator points out in his letter that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires that nuclear reactors be able to withstand plane crashes and said similar standards should be considered for the oil and gas industry.

Webb’s request for security measures comes as he prepares for a possible rematch in 2012 with Republican George Allen, the incumbent he narrowly defeated in 2006. Allen, a former governor, also supports oil and gas exploration off Virginia’s coast.

Senator warns of terrorist threat to oil rigs

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How BP wants to start over in bid to contain Gulf oil spill

Posted on June 27, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

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Mark Sappenfield,

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America’s ‘small people’ and BP’s gaffe-prone Gulf oil spill response

Posted on June 17, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

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Patrik Jonsson,

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Recovery head has business, government background

Posted on June 16, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

(CNN) — Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who will develop a long-term plan for the restoration of the states affected by the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, is a former governor of Mississippi whom the White House has called a proven leader.

The 61-year-old Mabus was selected by President Obama on Tuesday to help draw up the government’s plan for recovery efforts in conjunction with officials in the Gulf Coast states.

“The plan will be designed by states, local communities, tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists, and other Gulf residents. And BP will pay for the impact this spill has had on the region,” Obama said in a nationwide address from the Oval Office.

Last year when Mabus was selected to lead the Navy, the Obama administration released a statement that said: “The president nominated Governor Mabus to be secretary of the Navy because he has the proven leadership and experience our nation needs to serve in this important position.”

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Mabus was born and raised in Mississippi, attending college at the University of Mississippi. He earned a master’s degree at Johns Hopkins University before enlisting in the Navy near the end of the Vietnam War. He served as a surface warfare officer on the USS Little Rock in 1971 and 1972. After the Navy he attended Harvard Law School.

The Democrat was elected to office for the first time in 1983, becoming Mississippi’s state auditor. Five years later, Mabus became governor at age 39, the youngest state leader in the nation at the time, according to the Mississippi Historical Society.

Mabus was named one of Fortune magazine’s Top 10 education governors in 1990, according to his biography on National Governors Association website. He was defeated in his re-election bid by Kirk Fordice.

In 1994, Mabus was appointed by then-President Bill Clinton as the ambassador to Saudi Arabia where he served for two years before returning to Mississippi to become a businessman.

His divorce in 2000 made national headlines because it involved secret recordings of conversations with an Episcopal priest and his first wife, Julie Hines. During the recordings, she revealed an affair, and the tapes helped Mabus win legal custody of the couple’s two daughters, according to the New York Times. They share physical custody.

Hines sued the priest and the church, citing privacy rights, but the suit was dismissed in 2006, the Times reported.

Mabus led Foamex, a maker of cushion products, out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2007, according to his biography on the Defense department’s website.

He was chosen by Obama to be Secretary of the Navy in May 2009.

Recovery head has business, government background

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BP boss facing ‘nightmare well’ Hill grill

Posted on June 14, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — BP chief Tony Hayward should be prepared to face tough questioning about the cause of the Gulf oil disaster when he appears before a key House committee this week, according to a letter released Monday by the committee’s chairman.

The letter to Hayward from House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-California, says a congressional investigation alleges that the besieged oil company took a low-cost, speedy approach to drilling the broken deepwater well responsible for the growing spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Our “investigation is raising serious questions about the decisions made by BP in the days and hours before the explosion” that created the spill, Waxman noted. “On April 15, five days before the explosion, BP’s drilling engineer called (the facility in the Gulf) a ‘nightmare well.’ “

The letter — co-signed by Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak, D-Michigan — asserts that BP saved $10 million in part by skimping on a process to properly cement the well. It also asserts that BP ignored advice from Halliburton, its cementing subcontractor.

“BP appears to have made multiple decisions for economic reasons that increased the danger of a catastrophic well failure,” the congressmen said. “In several instances, these decisions appear to violate industry guidelines and were made despite warnings from BP’s own personnel and its contractors. In effect, it appears that BP repeatedly chose risky procedures in order to reduce costs and save time and made minimal efforts to contain the added risk.”

BP failed to run a multiple-hour a “cement bond” procedure — meant to assess the integrity of the well’s cement seal — despite a mid-April review that predicted cement failure, according to the letter.

An independent expert told congressional investigators that this was a “horribly negligent” decision, the letter notes.

BP also decided to forgo the safety step of fully circulating drilling mud in the well before cementing, the letter claims.

“Time after time, it appears that BP made decisions that increased the risk of a blowout to save the company time or expense. If this is what happened, BP’s carelessness and complacency have inflicted a heavy toll on the Gulf, its inhabitants and the workers on the rig,” Waxman and Stupak contend.

Hayward is scheduled to testify before Waxman’s committee on Thursday morning.

BP boss facing ‘nightmare well’ Hill grill

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President Obama to set up oil spill panel

Posted on May 18, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

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Page last updated at 01:02 GMT, Tuesday, 18 May 2010 02:02 UK

US President Barack Obama will set up a commission to investigate the oil spill inside the Gulf of Mexico, officials say.

They say the panel will also examine company practices and also the government’s role inside the disaster.

The news comes like a greatest coast guard official warned the leaking oil may accomplish the southern Florida coastline.

Separately, the oil giant BP says it plans to start pumping large amounts of mud towards the damaged oil nicely in an effort to near it altogether.

Oil might be spewing towards the Gulf since BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on 20 April.

BP pointed out on Monday it was managing to funnel the equivalent of 1,000 barrels a day of oil from your nicely to some tanker ship with the use of a mile-long tube.

That would amount to some fifth from your estimated daily spill of 5,000 barrels – an estimate produced by the coast guard and BP.

Resignation

Mr Obama would establish a presidential commission by executive order, White House officials experienced been quoted by news agencies as saying.

“ I think we ought to turn out to be cautious in terms of defining what plumes are accessible and how they’re behaving ”
Lamar McKay BP’s America president

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, pointed out the commission is going to be similar to panels produced to investigate the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 and also the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in 1979.

It would also study oil company practices, rig safety, regulation and governmental oversight, including the functions from your Minerals Management Service (MMS) – the agency responsible for regulating offshore oil drilling.

Meanwhile, senior MMS official Chris Oynes pointed out on Monday that he would step down within the end of this month.

Mr Oynes might be accused of becoming too near in the direction of the company his agency monitors, the BBC’s Madeleine Morris in Washington reports.

Nevertheless, there might be no official comment concerning the elements for Mr Oynes’ resignation.

‘Loop current’

Also on Monday, Rear Adm Peter Neffenger told the US Senate how the oil spill may accomplish Florida’s coastline.

Any oil that does wash up is likely to turn out to be inside the form of tarballs which are a “little simpler to manage”, the greatest coast guard official pointed out within a testimony within the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Rear Adm Neffenger also pointed out how the federal federal government was closely watching regardless of regardless of whether the oil is going to be swept up towards the “loop current” that moves near to Florida.

“Currently it shows to turn out to be somewhere inside the neighbourhood of 40-50 miles (65km-80km) from your southern edge from your spill,” he pointed out.

“We are watching that carefully and like a result of that we’re preparing for potential impact concerning the southern Florida coast and impacts near towards the southern Florida coast.”

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also appeared at Monday’s hearing, the really very first time senators experienced been able to question officials concerning the response in the direction of the 20 April disaster.

She pointed out the federal federal government was monitoring the loop current truly closely and experienced been treating it as if it experienced been a coastline.

“In other words… if we experienced been to see how the oil really was beginning to move toward the loop current we would start doing some points inside the way of dispersant and booming… as if the loop current itself experienced been a piece from your coast,” she pointed out.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, who chairs the committee, pointed out within the hearing how the federal federal government ought to not permit any new deep water wells to obtain permits or be drilled until the company could prove it can prevent an extra failure of drilling equipment in deep waters or contain oil spills a lot a lot more effectively.

Plume questions

BP’s America president, Lamar McKay, returned in the direction of the Senate for that hearing, having presently faced questions along with other oil company executives last week.

Scientists pointed out on Sunday they experienced discovered vast underwater plumes of oil, one 10 miles (16km) lengthy and a mile wide, lending weight in the direction of the fears of those who think the actual spill may be numerous times greater than the estimate of 5,000 barrels daily.

But Mr McKay told senators: “I think we ought to turn out to be cautious in terms of defining what plumes are accessible and how they’re behaving.”

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cast doubt concerning the plume reports, saying no definitive conclusions experienced been reached merely simply because the findings experienced been unverified.

But, within a joint statement, Ms Napolitano and Secretary from your Interior Ken Salazar pointed out the latest technique was “not a solution in the direction of the issue and it isn’t yet clear how successful it may be”.

BP also pointed out on Monday it experienced received 15,000 claims for compensation, and experienced presently paid out on 2,500 claims. Experts warn that BP’s total liability for that spill could run into billions of dollars.

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