Obama talks oil spill response plan in first presidential address

In his first presidential address from the Oval Office, Barack Obama reassured the nation that the BP oil spill in the Gulf will be cleaned up, but did he inspire?

The 17-minute, nationally televised speech, mostly consisted of him describing the April 20 oil rig explosion, which left 11 dead and how he intends to make BP pay for not only the clean-up but the compensation of those who depend on the Gulf for their lively hood.

Obama said he will tell BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg to, "set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company's recklessness."

"This fund will not be controlled by BP," Obama said. "In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent, third party."

While Republicans have bitched about Obama using the disaster to push his energy bill, he did not hesitate to boast about it during his speech. He called upon Congress to put aside partisan politics to end America's dependence on fossil fuels once and for all.

"the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now," he said.

Obama also outlined the response effort thus far, in an effort to curb the negative views by Americans - 52 percent don't approve of his handling of the oil disaster. Obama noted that the resources the federal government had poured into the area, including the 30,000 people working in four states to contain and clean- up the oil. He added that 17,000 National Guards members are available along the coast to be used as needed by the governors of the state's. 

While Obama was effective in bringing us up to date on the clean-up effort, what he missed in this speech was his ability to inspire. Not that I am a big believer that the president has to be emotional, but it just seemed very scripted, as I guess most presidential speech's from the Oval Office do. But people need to be comforted now. They need to be made to believe that this spill will be stopped and cleaned-up. While it remains to be seen wether or not the president will be successful in cleaning-up the Gulf, he was ineffective in settling people's nerves over the disaster on this night.

For more information, visit www.whitehouse.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill/