
(CNN) – President Barack Obama used his first Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday to say 90 percent of the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico will be captured within weeks, and to call for a new clean energy policy to end U.S. dependence on fossil fuels.
Before last night's address, a poll showed more than two-thirds of the country thought President Obama needed to get tougher on BP. How did he fare? Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley and Newsweek contributing editor Julia Reed joined us on Wednesday's American Morning to weigh in on the speech.
Read more: Obama details oil spill response, calls for energy reform
(CNN) – President Obama admits there will be more problems ahead when it comes to cleaning up the worst oil spill in American history. Last night, for the first time in his presidency, he talked to the nation from the Oval Office. But did people along the Gulf Coast hear what they needed to hear from the president? Craig Taffaro, the president of Saint Bernard Parish, and Tony Kennon, the mayor of Orange Beach, Alabama, joined us on Wednesday's American Morning for reaction to the president's address.
(CNN) – President Obama says the Gulf Coast is "under assault" from the oil spill, and on that point, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal would agree. But Jindal and other local officials say the cleanup effort isn't near what it needs to be, and they're putting their own ideas to work. Our Ed Lavandera has the report.
(CNN) – In a prime-time speech from the Oval Office Tuesday, President Obama vowed to unleash whatever resources may be needed to fight the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and to keep the pressure on BP. People in Louisiana and all along the Gulf Coast are feeling the pain and evaluating the president's promises. Our Chris Lawrence has the report.
By Bob Ruff and Carol Costello, CNN
(CNN) – The fiery explosion that cost 11 workers their lives on the Deepwater Horizon has the nation focused on the dangers of deep water oil and gas drilling. But what about what happens on land? It turns out that the oil and gas industry’s track record isn’t very good there either.
Here are just a few of the accidents during the past two months:
April 2nd – An explosion at BP's Tesoro refinery in Washington State killed seven.
May 5th – Two were injured in an AGE refinery fire in San Antonio.
May 17th – Another fire broke out at LyondellBasell’s Houston refinery.
Add up all the U.S. refinery and rig fires since April 1 and you find 13 fires, 19 deaths and 25 injured.
Kim Nibarger, who directs the United Steel Workers Union’s safety group, was in Washington Thursday testifying before the Senate’s Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee about the dangers to workers at refineries. Nibarger has witnessed those dangers firsthand. 12 years ago, he saw a BP refinery explode in Anacortes, Washington. Six workers died.
“I live that nightmare in 1998 every day,” he told us. “I mean it hurts me. I know what the families go through. And it needs to come to a stop. People shouldn't have to die just because they went to work.”
(CNN) – With a good majority of Americans saying he's not being tough enough on BP, President Obama is doing something he's never done before tonight – addressing the nation from the Oval Office. To give us an idea of what we can expect, we were joined by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Tuesday's American Morning.

