In his address, Obama vowed to use any and all resources available to fight the oil spill in the Gulf. He predicted that "in the coming days and weeks," the attempts to stop or contain the leak "should capture up to 90 percent of the oil leaking out of the well." Obama also ratcheted up pressure on BP, stating that he will tell BP's Chairman Carl-Henric Svangerb "that he is 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."

President Obama made no references in his speech to the government's revised estimates for the size of the spill that were released earlier Tuesday. A government panel said that as much as 60,000 barrels a day could be flowing out of the ruptured oil well into the Gulf of Mexico. The figure of 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day is significantly larger than last week's revised estimates of 25,000 to 30,000 barrels per day. At the revised rate, roughly 2.5 million gallons of oil are pouring into the gulf every day. This means that the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez is spilling into the Gulf every four days.

 Yesterday, CWN staff participated on a Gulf oil spill call conducted by high level Administration officials. The purpose of the call was to brief activists about the current situation on the ground as well as provide an overview of President' Obama's action plan for moving forward. The briefing was also intended to detail the progress of the response and recovery effort. Speakers on the call were Valerie Jarrett, Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison, Carole Browner, White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy Director, and Nancy Sutley, White  House Council on Environmental Quality Chair.  Jarrett and Browner were accompanying the President on his recent trip to Louisiana and informed participants on the call that they were on Air Force One conducting the briefing. On the call, Browner stated that the first focus is on reducing the amount of oil coming up to the surface. She mentioned that the administration has instructed BP over the past few days to bring more resources to the table.  Browner also went on to explain that when the oil reaches the surface, the first line of defense is in situ burns, then skimmers, then the 5 million feet of boom that has been deployed and finally beach cleanup crews that deal with oil that has reached the shore.

After the call the officials answered a few soft questions including inquiries on alternative energy proposals, Kevin Costner's company's clean up technology, and BP's fast and loose approach to safety regulations. The Administration has had regular update calls on the oil spill. When CWN receives notice about the next conference call we will post it on our Gulf Oil spill page on our website.

For the latest information on the catastrophe in the Gulf and the Administration's response, please see the links below:
Joint Information Center: www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com 

Response Resources: www.whitehouse.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill/

Administration Response Activities: www.whitehouse.gov/blog/issues/Deepwater-BP-Oil-Spill

Technical Suggestions: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/546759/

NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has also launched a new website meant to be a "one-stop shop for detailed and near-real-time information about the response," including technical and scientific information.
See www.GeoPlatform.gov/gulfresponse for the latest data on the oil spill's trajectory, fishery closed areas, wildlife and place-based Gulf Coast resources such as pinpointed locations of oiled shoreline and daily position of research ships

First person account from CWN-Florida's Linda Young: Please read this excellent letter from long time Clean Water Network member and activist Linda Young, Clean Water Network of Florida, about the recent press conference she attended at the Escambia County Emergency Operations Center where Senator Bill Nelson gave a briefing about the impact of the oil spill on Florida's beaches.