Believe it or not, the president does have other responsibilities than just the oil spill

Friday 21 May 2010

The Obama administration directed more fire against BP last night, ordering it to provide daily updates on its efforts to contain the spill and to stop the use of a toxic chemical dispersant to break up the slick.

The White House said it expected the oil company to post daily updates on its website. "We think that is what the company owes, again, both us and the American people, as we work through our response and as the public has questions about their operations," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, 5/20/10

MR. GIBBS: Go ahead.

Q Can I ask on BP -- when you answered Jake, you said we are asking BP to be more transparent about air quality, about how much oil is spilling out. Asking is a lot different than what the Interior Secretary said this morning, and you’ve said before from this podium, that we’ve got the boot on the throats of BP. Asking them for -- why are you not demanding it?

MR. GIBBS: It’s just -- I will provide you with the letter that will soon go out which, pursuant to the Clean Water Act, we are asking for them to provide the data, put it on a website, update that website daily, provide whatever access they have to video to both -- fully to the government and to the public. We think that is what the company owes, again, both us and the American people as we work through our response and as the public has questions about their operations.

I will say my guess, Ed, would be that they’re not going to want to hide that data, that they’ll, based on this letter, provide it.

Q Yet this video you’ve been talking about, you’ve been asking for, the media has been asking for for days. They released a small one, I think, but there’s a lot more that you want. Why does that give you --

MR. GIBBS: Which is why we’ve asked --

Q -- why does that give them any credibility that they’re going to turn it over?

MR. GIBBS: Ed, I think they will respond favorably to this letter.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/press-briefing-press-secretary-robert-gibbs-52010

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, 5/21/10

Q I have another question. You sent out that Tweet about -- it was 10 days between the time you first asked for the live video and when you got the video.

MR. GIBBS: May 11th.

Q And on the other hand, which sounds like you’re asking without any kind of power behind it at all, and on the other hand you say you’ve got your boot on their throat. That sounds like they’re wearing the boot if they can just go along for 10 days. I mean, seriously, Robert, there’s this growing perception that the United States, that the government is somewhat powerless to make BP do what it wants them to do if it can’t even get them to put a live feed of video up for 10 days.

MR. GIBBS: Chip, we have pushed them to make things more public. There are laws that govern the proprietary information of companies. We can’t change each and every one of those laws, Chip. We will work every day to ensure that BP is doing everything that it can do, everything that we believe it should do. We asked again yesterday that they make more transparent their air and water quality samples, that they update their website on that on a daily basis, that they provide live video footage of what is happening on the floor of the ocean 5,000 feet beneath it.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/press-briefing-press-secretary-robert-gibbs-52110