Who Runs America’s Response to the Oil Blowout?

William Pfaff / Truthdig Jun 2, 2010 The conduct of Barack Obama in the BP affair, and all that preceded it, has become to this writer all but incomprehensible. I cannot imagine a more compelling portrayal of impotence. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

In Memory of All That Is Lost

Amy Goodman / Truthdig Jun 2, 2010 The anger is palpable across the Mississippi Delta. As the Deepwater Horizon oil geyser, almost a mile underwater, continues unabated, the brunt of this, the largest environmental catastrophe in United States history, is rolling onto the coast, impacting the ecology, the economy and entire ways of life. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Obama Calls for Oil Spill Inquiry

Staff / Truthdig Jun 2, 2010 President Barack Obama may not yet be able to contain the mess that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has become, but he's ordering an investigation into the cause of the disaster, he announced Tuesday (continued). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

A Close-Up Look at Top-Kill Failure

Staff / Truthdig Jun 2, 2010 Want to see what it looked like when the famous "top kill" method didn't work as planned in recent days? Here's a visual aid that might make its way into Obama's nightmares sooner or later (continued). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Five Reasons Obama Should Take Over BP

Staff / Truthdig Jun 1, 2010 Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich writes, "If the government can take over giant global insurer AIG and the auto giant General Motors and replace their CEOs, in order to keep them financially solvent, it should be able to put BP’s north American operations into temporary receivership in order to stop one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Adm. Cool in a Very Hot Seat

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Jun 1, 2010 Adm. Thad Allen is an expert on thankless jobs. After the initial response to Hurricane Katrina had been botched, President Bush assigned him to clean up the mess. Now President Obama has put him in charge of handling the worst oil spill in the nation's history. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Best Chance to Stop Gulf Spill Is Months Away

Staff / Truthdig Jun 1, 2010 It's already the worst ecological disaster in U.S. history, and the oil spill continues to dump somewhere between 504,000 and 4.2 million gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico. BP will continue to try to plug that hole, but its best chance to succeed is the drilling of relief wells, a process that won't be finished until at least August. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Experts Propose Plugging Oil Leak With BP Executives

Andy Borowitz / Truthdig May 31, 2010 "We've tried containment domes, rubber tires and even golf balls," said William Cathermeyer of the National Oil Leakage Institute, a leading consultancy in the field of oil leaks. "Now it's time to shove some BP executives down there and hope for the best." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

BP Accused of Hiring Temps for Obama Visit

Staff / Truthdig May 29, 2010 A parish official in coastal Louisiana has publicly accused BP of busing in cleanup workers to be present only for President Obama's visit on Friday. BP rejects the accusation, claiming no out-of-the-ordinary temporary hiring had taken place. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Obama Goes Gulfing

Staff / Truthdig May 28, 2010 Following a news conference Thursday in which he voiced resolve and regret over the way the Gulf oil spill has been handled, President Barack Obama visited the Louisiana coast on Friday to see the environmental devastation firsthand and to survey efforts to plug the Deepwater Horizon undersea gusher. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Obama: This Whole Oil Spill Situation Is Really Bad, People

Staff / Truthdig May 27, 2010 OK, so he actually called it an "unparalleled disaster," but you get the idea: President Barack Obama took a moment Thursday morning to announce that the federal government had been on British Petroleum's gulf oil spill from the very start and to declare unequivocally (continued) . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

BP Goes In for the Top Kill

Staff / Truthdig May 27, 2010 The news that British Petroleum began its latest attempt to contain the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill Wednesday afternoon with the "top kill" stopgap strategy would be more heartening if it didn't come so late in the game -- and if there was more of a guarantee that it would do the job. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )