The increased estimates of oil/gas flows suggest we’re in a terrifying race against time, in which BP is continually unable to keep up with a gusher expanding faster than they can assemble capture and recovery techniques. Instead of making progress by capturing more, matters could be getting worse.

How is it possible for the President of the United States to tell an anguished, worried people desperate for assurances, leadership and a plan of action that prayer is our best hope for stopping an ongoing catastrophe and preventing the next?

John Boehner isn’t quite sure if he’s flipping or flopping these days. After initially saying taxpayers should be on the hook for costs associated with BP’s mess, Boehner quickly walked it back, blaming the curious gaffe on a misunderstanding. Going a step further this morning on ABC, Boehner actually endorsed the idea of lifting the liability cap and holding BP fully accountable.

The Administration tells the media and Sunday talk shows that President Obama will propose BP fund an independently administered “escrow account” to make sure BP pays all damage claims for which it should be held financially accountable. From the New York Times: President Obama for the first time will address the nation about the ongoing [...]

I was 18, skinny, out of money and in New Orleans for the first time after some Appalachian adventures and a visit to Nixon’s D.C. I faked a cocky walk into a French Quarter piano bar and stayed until closing time when the brunette singer in a sequined costume gown took pity on me. We [...]

Apparently, the Brits are calling Americans — including President Obama — xenophobic for referring to the company shitting up our Gulf as “British Petroleum.” So for this installment of my now-regular reflection on how, fifty-some years ago, we overthrew a democratically-elected government for that company shitting up our Gulf, I’m going to call it the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.

PBS News Hour spent 15 minutes Friday night fretting about some manufactured controversy between America and Great Britain. But I can’t find any evidence that any sensible American or any sensible US official who is even remotely upset at the British people, the UK or its government. So everyone relax.

The federal government doubled its estimate of oil leaking into the Gulf yet again, dramatically raising the amount of total oil in the Gulf, which is the measure of what BP will owe under the Clean Water Act.

You may remember, the first day after BP revealed the existence of oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, they talked about setting the oil on fire — a plan which is now likely to become operational. I hope that the Justice Department is taking all of this burning oil into account when determining their fines and penalties for negligent environmental damage.

The federal government and many local agencies have been working with BP to limit access to information and scientific analysis of the oil spill in the Gulf. The time has come to place the entire response in the hands of an independent commission with access to BP and government resources to implement its response.