Going into his first Oval Office address to the American people and the concerned world, President Obama has received a big dose of warranted and unwarranted criticism from increasingly frustrated gulf coast residents who depend on the fishing and oil industries as their lifelines. Stack on the predicted refusal of Republican leaders to work with the President and the Democrats on an energy bill to begin the transition away from deep sea drilling to alternative energy, the complex politics and catastrophic nature of the BP oil disaster becomes apparent. With no guarantees on plugging the leak other than the drilling by BP of a relief well due best case in August, the President is in the precarious position of having to reassure the American people that things are under control while also being realistic in diverging the true scope of the disaster at hand. That being said, here are KTI’s key observations and highlights from the President’s 18 minute speech.
Appearance
Tired, but purposeful
Very clear and concise
Determined to clear the air of rumor
Hopeful, invoking faith at close
Federal Response
Assembled team led by Stephen Chu
Experts for Academia and other Oil Companies to brainstorm solutions
Appointed Thad Allen to head cleanup, largest effort of all time
17,000 National Guardsmen need to be activated by Governors
5 ½ million of boom, barrier islands are being deployed presently
Complex response can never be perfect, will do best to fix all operational problems
More oil is coming, must accept reality of spill and go to battle against oil
Independent 3rd party will distribute claims
National commission to determine cause of disaster
6 month moratorium on offshore drilling until cause of breach is found
BP
Caused and liable for the worst environmental disaster in US history
Spill is an epidemic, fighting and recovering will take months to years
BP will pay for all restoration and cleanup efforts
BP will finish relief well by end of summer, weather permitting
Promises
BP will pay
Feds will do whatever is necessary to help stop, cleanup, and recover
Recovery will be key role of government, troops
Long term gulf restoration plan will be paid for by BP
Taking steps to assure disaster does not occur again
American people deserve to know what happened
Cleaning house at MMS, changing corporate culture
Pace of reform will be heightened, new oil industry watchdog appointed
Drilling today entails greater risk, 2% reserves, 20% of consumption
Oils days are inevitably numbered, must accelerate our innovation in energy
We must seize control of our own destiny and transition from fossil fuels
Can’t afford not to change how we consume energy
R&D in alternative energy must be increased
Inaction on the ground and administratively will not be accepted
Overall Impression
Tonight’s speech, while necessary and purposeful, will be dismissed by opponents of the President as playing politics with energy by using the oil spill as an excuse to pass an energy bill this year. But, this is a shallow argument based on the same kind of “just say no” games we saw during the health care debates. Despite their own acknowledgement of the importance of curbing our addiction to oil and other fossil fuels, these same Republicans are opposing the very premise of putting our resources into the widespread implementation of a new energy policy that promotes common sense theories that they support in principal. They are so scared to give Obama a political victory that they are willing to appear cynical and hypocritical in the name of petty partisan politics. Therefore, despite the Presidents best efforts to clear up the air and push America forward with the disaster as a source of momentum in the imminent transition to alternative energy sources, many on the right will try to politicize and capitalize on the anti-establishment sentiment rather than to work with their peers to move America forward. Overall, the speech was well delivered, but in today’s hyper partisan environment it is likely that his words will fall short of the impact of any positively viewed step towards progress on the ground, the sea or in capping the leak.
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