Obama's Response to the BP / Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

It has been over a month since the BP oil rig Deepwater Horizon sunk, unleashing a torrent of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. An event which will also surely have lasting environmental and economic effects for the region. History shows that even after the official cleanup is over, local wildlife, and the local economy of a region take years to recover.

After the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, less than 10% of the oil was recovered. The rest soaked into the shoreline. According to a report released in 2007 by NOAA, more than 26,000 U.S. gallons of oil still remain in the soil along the North Pacific shore. Tourism, fishing and other industries took a serious hit. Wildlife in the region showed decreased lifespan due to ingesting oil-contaminated food. The effects were devastating.

Estimates for the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill put the total amount of oil released into the Gulf at over 17,143,280 U.S. gallons as of May 24th, 2010. To put this into perspective, the Exxon Valdez spill was a mere 10,800,000 gallons. And the oil is still gushing out.

The Democratic Party's message has been clear thus far under the Obama Administration: the government is here to take care of you. National Healthcare, financial bailouts, a stimulus package to put people back to work. You know, the kind of things that get votes from your constituency. But when an actual disaster strikes, the Democrats won't touch it with a ten foot pole. At least, not right away.

It's true, this is not 'Obama's Oil-spill'. He just happened to be president when this natural disaster occurred. But by that same token George W. Bush just happened to be president when 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina occurred. The press reamed him for his slow response to Katrina. How long exactly did the government take to respond? A week. Katrina made landfall on Aug 29th, 2005 and Congress approved funding for Katrina relief on Sept 2nd. Was there a lack of understanding, across the board, of how bad the disaster really was? Yes. Were there government failures at all levels; local, regional and national? Yes. Did people die? Yes. Have we learned from our mistakes? Sadly, it seems the answer is no.

In a recent announcement, Obama has said, "I ultimately take responsibility for solving this crisis," Obama said. "I'm the president, and the buck stops with me." It's true, the government has been involved in some way since the beginning. The Coast Guard helped to put out the fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. And since then the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard have been assisting, in some role, with cleanup efforts. But Obama and the Democrats have come off looking like the "Hands-Off" party, a 180-degree reversal from the early days of "YES WE CAN". There is no "WE" here, only "US" and "THEM", the bad guys, and it's all their fault.

Why isn't the government assisting in some tangible way to plug the actual leak? America has some of the most brilliant minds in the world, (one of our last great exports). We've sent men to the moon, built airplanes, automobiles, and made great advances in medical research. The US Government spent an estimated $300+ billion on Research and Development in 2009. Yet no one can think of a way to fill in a hole. A growing joke on the internet is to plug the leak with BP executives. All kidding aside, it's time for the Democrats, (who control the House, Senate and the Oval Office) to step up and do something about this disaster. Something other than make nice speeches and shifting the blame. Something real.

Obama has forgotten the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In a recent USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, 53% of those surveyed said that the Obama Administration is doing a poor job handling the oil spill. President Obama's general approval ratings have been dropping too; as of May 28th, 2010 only 47% of Americans approve of the way in which Obama is leading the nation. That's a far cry from his 64% approval rating back in 2009. Will voters remember this incident in 2012? Will the Democrats ever live down the fact that they left their constituents to fend for themselves for so long? Perhaps now would be a good time for some of that "change" the Democrats are always talking about.

Sources:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/05/poll-majority-give-obama-feds-failing-grade-on-oil-spill-response-/1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_spills#Largest_oil_spills

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2010/05/26/bp-latest-attempt-to-stop-oil-leak/

http://www.redstate.com/vladimir/2010/05/29/obamas-oil-spill-dilemma/

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/05/obama-on-gulf-you-will-not-be-abandoned/1

http://thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/presidential-approval-tracker.htm