What does President Obama need to do, to emerge politically alive after the worst environmental crisis in American history? According to this editorial from Germany's Financial Times Deutschland, 'it's either Obama or BP' - and if the president fails to get the job done, 'a reputation for being an indecisive dreamer will stick to Obama permanently.'
The oil spill in the Gulf of
Mexico is a slow-motion drama. As slowly as the oil emerges from the deep sea
toward the U.S. coastline, so the true extent of the disaster is slowly making
its way into the public consciousness.
Over recent days, however, it
does appear to be. That's dangerous for the polluters, the oil company BP, and its
dangerous for the U.S. government under President Barack Obama. And it's only
at BP's expense that Obama will be able to extricate himself from the danger
zone.
The more we know about the
company's negligent disregard for safety regulations, the way it minimized the
disaster from the outset, and how helpless it is in the face of the gushing oil
well, the more crucial it is that Obama do his utmost to pressure BP into
making amends for its failings. Not only to contain the disaster, but also for
the sake of his political future.
The U.S. government had
already failed to remedy the obvious conflict of interest within the agency
charged with overseeing deepwater drilling. This led to the lax monitoring that
enabled BP to glide through with serious safety violations in the first place. If
the government now also fails to propel BP toward maximum effort at sealing the
underwater leak, a reputation for being an indecisive dreamer will stick to Obama
permanently.
This oil spill disaster may
indeed be a difficult case: The government can't simply remove BP from the work
of sealing the broken riser pipe. It needs the company's detailed knowledge and
expertise.
Obama is nonetheless left
with two means of exerting pressure: image and money. He should use both more
effectively than he thus far. The U.S. government should
mercilessly make public BP's acts of negligence - and not allow additional attempts at
playing for time. In the coming week, there will be plenty of opportunities to do
so: On Tuesday because of the oil spill, Obama will deliver a speech to the
nation; on Wednesday, BP's top executives have been summoned to the White House;
and on Thursday, BP CEO Tony Hayward will be questioned by a congressional committee.
There are signs that Obama
has understood that it's either him or BP. On Sunday he called on BP to set up
an escrow account to the tune of $7.5 billion to pay for the financial consequences
of the disaster. That would force BP to immediately provide more resources than
are covered by the company's cash reserves. In order to provide that amount, BP
would be forced to give up part of its billion-dollar dividend payment until it
becomes clear how much money the oil spill will devour. And that may be quite a
lot more.
As long as it takes for the
full extent of the disaster to become apparent, is how long it will take public
outrage to subside. Obama will still have ample opportunity to show that his
government has drawn lessons from the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon.
