After yukking it up with the likes of ScarJo and Jessica Simpson last night, it was back to work today for the president. Obama visited southern Louisiana to better understand the effort under way to combat the intensifying, spreading oil slick encroaching on the coasts, and to see the damage firsthand. Obama pledged that the administration is doing everything it can to aid in managing the “massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster,” later stating “we will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to address this crisis.”
Obama received a briefing from Homeland Security adviser John Brennan and his energy adviser, Carol Browner, on BP’s plans to lower a device that would cap the damaged oil well at the sea floor in hopes of stopping the flow of the estimated 5,000 barrels a day into the Gulf’s water, one of several approaches being developed to help block the spread. Though Obama maintained that the White House was doing everything possible to help with the economic and environmental relief, he said they will not be the ones signing the check: “BP is responsible for this leak. BP will be paying the bill.”
Obama Vows to Do Whatever it Takes on Oil Spill [AP via CBS News]
