Photos: Fun And Wacky Science, Dr. Zap At The Library
June 16, 2010
“Dr. Zap” presented his fun and wacky view on science Tuesday as the summer reading program series continued at the Century Branch Library.
From toilet paper arches, to children floating on air to the amazement of a young girl that learned she could effortless lift 200 pounds — Dr. Zap taught children about scientific theory in a fun and imaginable way.
(The young lady, by the way, used a level and fulcrum to lift three boys — including her astonished brother — into the air.)
For a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from the event, click here.
The summer read series at the Century Branch Library will continue each Tuesday at noon as follows:
- June 22 – John Jaramillo, storyteller and dancer
- June 29 – David Stephens, puppetry
- July 6, Ross Mudge, singing patriotic songs
- July 13, Beau Broomall, magician
For more information, contact the Century Branch Library at (850) 256-6217.
Pictured top: Children enjoy learning about science from Dr. Zap Tuesday afternoon at the Century Branch Library. Pictured inset: Dr. Zap. Pictured below: A young lady (right) lifts three boys weighing a combined 200 pounds using a lever and fulcrum. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
VIDEO: Obama Speaks TO Military At Pensacola NAS
June 16, 2010
During a speech at Pensacola Naval Air Station, President Barack Obama thanked military personnel who have helped respond to the Deepwater BP oil spill.
To watch the video, click play below. To read the full text of the speech, click here.
(If you do not see the video above, it is because your home, work or school firewall is block access to external videos.)
VIDEO: Obama’s Oval Office Address On BP Spill
June 16, 2010
President Barack Obama addressed the nation Tuesday night from the Oval Office for the first time about his administration’s ongoing response to the BP oil spill and clean energy.
To watch the video, click play below. To read the full text of the speech, click here.
(If you do not see the video above, it is because your home, work or school firewall is block access to external videos.)
Watch Videos: Obama At Pensacola Beach; Pensacola NAS, Oval Office
June 16, 2010
NorthEscambia.com has complete video coverage of President Barack Obama’s visit to Pensacola on Tuesday, as well as his speech from the Oval Office Tuesday night.
During a speech at Pensacola Naval Air Station, President Barack Obama thanked military personnel who have helped respond to the Deepwater BP oil spill. Click here to watch.
Tuesday morning on Pensacola Beach, President Barack Obama met with state and local officials to discuss the BP oil spill. This video is from that meeting at the Fish Sandwich Snack Bar with Pensacola Mayor Mike Wiggins, Florida CFO Alex Sink, Gov. Charlies Crist and others. Click here to watch.
President Barack Obama addressed the nation Tuesday night from the Oval Office for the first time about his administration’s ongoing response to the BP oil spill and clean energy. Click here to watch
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Obama’s Oval Office Gulf Oil Plan: Read The Entire Address To The Nation
June 15, 2010
President Barack Obama laid out his Gulf oil spill strategy to the nation Tuesday night from the Oval Office, just hours after he toured Pensacola Beach.
(To see a video of the speech, click here.)
The following is the full text of Obama’s speech:
Good evening. As we speak, our nation faces a multitude of challenges. At home, our top priority is to recover and rebuild from a recession that has touched the lives of nearly every American. Abroad, our brave men and women in uniform are taking the fight to al Qaeda wherever it exists. And tonight, I’ve returned from a trip to the Gulf Coast to speak with you about the battle we’re waging against an oil spill that is assaulting our shores and our citizens.
On April 20, an explosion ripped through BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, about forty miles off the coast of Louisiana. Eleven workers lost their lives. Seventeen others were injured. And soon, nearly a mile beneath the surface of the ocean, oil began spewing into the water.
Because there has never been a leak of this size at this depth, stopping it has tested the limits of human technology. That is why just after the rig sank, I assembled a team of our nation’s best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge — a team led by Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and our nation’s Secretary of Energy. Scientists at our national labs and experts from academia and other oil companies have also provided ideas and advice.
As a result of these efforts, we have directed BP to mobilize additional equipment and technology. In the coming days and weeks, these efforts should capture up to 90 percent of the oil leaking out of the well. This is until the company finishes drilling a relief well later in the summer that is expected to stop the leak completely.
Already, this oil spill is the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced. And unlike an earthquake or a hurricane, it is not a single event that does its damage in a matter of minutes or days. The millions of gallons of oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico are more like an epidemic, one that we will be fighting for months and even years.
But make no mistake: we will fight this spill with everything we’ve got for as long it takes. We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused. And we will do whatever’s necessary to help the Gulf Coast and its people recover from this tragedy.
Tonight I’d like to lay out for you what our battle plan is going forward: what we’re doing to clean up the oil, what we’re doing to help our neighbors in the Gulf, and what we’re doing to make sure that a catastrophe like this never happens again.
First, the cleanup. From the very beginning of this crisis, the federal government has been in charge of the largest environmental cleanup effort in our nation’s history — an effort led by Admiral Thad Allen, who has almost forty years of experience responding to disasters. We now have nearly 30,000 personnel who are working across four states to contain and cleanup the oil. Thousands of ships and other vessels are responding in the Gulf. And I have authorized the deployment of over 17,000 National Guard members along the coast. These servicemen and women are ready to help stop the oil from coming ashore, clean beaches, train response workers, or even help with processing claims — and I urge the governors in the affected states to activate these troops as soon as possible.
Because of our efforts, millions of gallons of oil have already been removed from the water through burning, skimming, and other collection methods. Over five and a half million feet of boom has been laid across the water to block and absorb the approaching oil. We have approved the construction of new barrier islands in Louisiana to try and stop the oil before it reaches the shore, and we are working with Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida to implement creative approaches to their unique coastlines.
As the clean up continues, we will offer whatever additional resources and assistance our coastal states may need. Now, a mobilization of this speed and magnitude will never be perfect, and new challenges will always arise. I saw and heard evidence of that during this trip. So if something isn’t working, we want to hear about it. If there are problems in the operation, we will fix them.
But we have to recognize that despite our best efforts, oil has already caused damage to our coastline and its wildlife. And sadly, no matter how effective our response becomes, there will be more oil and more damage before this siege is done. That’s why the second thing we’re focused on is the recovery and restoration of the Gulf Coast.
You know, for generations, men and women who call this region home have made their living from the water. That living is now in jeopardy. I’ve talked to shrimpers and fishermen who don’t know how they’re going to support their families this year. I’ve seen empty docks and restaurants with fewer customers — even in areas where the beaches are not yet affected. I’ve talked to owners of shops and hotels who wonder when the tourists will start to come back. The sadness and anger they feel is not just about the money they’ve lost. It’s about a wrenching anxiety that their way of life may be lost.
I refuse to let that happen. Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him 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. And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent, third party.
Beyond compensating the people of the Gulf in the short-term, it’s also clear we need a long-term plan to restore the unique beauty and bounty of this region. The oil spill represents just the latest blow to a place that has already suffered multiple economic disasters and decades of environmental degradation that has led to disappearing wetlands and habitats. And the region still hasn’t recovered from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That’s why we must make a commitment to the Gulf Coast that goes beyond responding to the crisis of the moment.
I make that commitment tonight. Earlier, I asked Ray Mabus, the Secretary of the Navy, a former governor of Mississippi, and a son of the Gulf, to develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan as soon as possible. The plan will be designed by states, local communities, tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists, and other Gulf residents. And BP will pay for the impact this spill has had on the region.
The third part of our response plan is the steps we’re taking to ensure that a disaster like this does not happen again. A few months ago, I approved a proposal to consider new, limited offshore drilling under the assurance that it would be absolutely safe — that the proper technology would be in place and the necessary precautions would be taken.
That was obviously not the case on the Deepwater Horizon rig, and I want to know why. The American people deserve to know why. The families I met with last week who lost their loved ones in the explosion — these families deserve to know why. And so I have established a National Commission to understand the causes of this disaster and offer recommendations on what additional safety and environmental standards we need to put in place. Already, I have issued a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling. I know this creates difficulty for the people who work on these rigs, but for the sake of their safety, and for the sake of the entire region, we need to know the facts before we allow deepwater drilling to continue. And while I urge the Commission to complete its work as quickly as possible, I expect them to do that work thoroughly and impartially.
One place we have already begun to take action is at the agency in charge of regulating drilling and issuing permits, known as the Minerals Management Service. Over the last decade, this agency has become emblematic of a failed philosophy that views all regulation with hostility — a philosophy that says corporations should be allowed to play by their own rules and police themselves. At this agency, industry insiders were put in charge of industry oversight. Oil companies showered regulators with gifts and favors, and were essentially allowed to conduct their own safety inspections and write their own regulations.
When Ken Salazar became my Secretary of the Interior, one of his very first acts was to clean up the worst of the corruption at this agency. But it’s now clear that the problems there ran much deeper, and the pace of reform was just too slow. And so Secretary Salazar and I are bringing in new leadership at the agency — Michael Bromwich, who was a tough federal prosecutor and Inspector General. His charge over the next few months is to build an organization that acts as the oil industry’s watchdog — not its partner.
One of the lessons we’ve learned from this spill is that we need better regulations better safety standards, and better enforcement when it comes to offshore drilling. But a larger lesson is that no matter how much we improve our regulation of the industry, drilling for oil these days entails greater risk. After all, oil is a finite resource. We consume more than 20% of the world’s oil, but have less than 2% of the world’s oil reserves. And that’s part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean — because we’re running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water.
For decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. For decades, we have talked and talked about the need to end America’s century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. Time and again, the path forward has been blocked — not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor.
The consequences of our inaction are now in plain sight. Countries like China are investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be here in America. Each day, we send nearly $1 billion of our wealth to foreign countries for their oil. And today, as we look to the Gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude.
We cannot consign our children to this future. The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now. Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash American innovation and seize control of our own destiny.
This is not some distant vision for America. The transition away from fossil fuels will take some time, but over the last year and a half, we have already taken unprecedented action to jumpstart the clean energy industry. As we speak, old factories are reopening to produce wind turbines, people are going back to work installing energy-efficient windows, and small businesses are making solar panels. Consumers are buying more efficient cars and trucks, and families are making their homes more energy-efficient. Scientists and researchers are discovering clean energy technologies that will someday lead to entire new industries.
Each of us has a part to play in a new future that will benefit all of us. As we recover from this recession, the transition to clean energy has the potential to grow our economy and create millions of good, middle-class jobs — but only if we accelerate that transition. Only if we seize the moment. And only if we rally together and act as one nation — workers and entrepreneurs; scientists and citizens; the public and private sectors.
When I was a candidate for this office, I laid out a set of principles that would move our country towards energy independence. Last year, the House of Representatives acted on these principles by passing a strong and comprehensive energy and climate bill — a bill that finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses.
Now, there are costs associated with this transition. And some believe we can’t afford those costs right now. I say we can’t afford not to change how we produce and use energy — because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater.
So I am happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party — as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development — and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development.
All of these approaches have merit, and deserve a fear hearing in the months ahead. But the one approach I will not accept is inaction. The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is too big and too difficult to meet. You see, the same thing was said about our ability to produce enough planes and tanks in World War II. The same thing was said about our ability to harness the science and technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon. And yet, time and again, we have refused to settle for the paltry limits of conventional wisdom. Instead, what has defined us as a nation since our founding is our capacity to shape our destiny — our determination to fight for the America we want for our children. Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don’t yet know precisely how to get there. We know we’ll get there.
It is a faith in the future that sustains us as a people. It is that same faith that sustains our neighbors in the Gulf right now.
Each year, at the beginning of shrimping season, the region’s fishermen take part in a tradition that was brought to America long ago by fishing immigrants from Europe. It’s called “The Blessing of the Fleet,” and today it’s a celebration where clergy from different religions gather to say a prayer for the safety and success of the men and women who will soon head out to sea — some for weeks at a time.
The ceremony goes on in good times and in bad. It took place after Katrina, and it took place a few weeks ago — at the beginning of the most difficult season these fishermen have ever faced.
And still, they came and they prayed. For as a priest and former fisherman once said of the tradition, “The blessing is not that God has promised to remove all obstacles and dangers. The blessing is that He is with us always,” a blessing that’s granted “…even in the midst of the storm.”
The oil spill is not the last crisis America will face. This nation has known hard times before and we will surely know them again. What sees us through — what has always seen us through — is our strength, our resilience, and our unyielding faith that something better awaits us if we summon the courage to reach for it. Tonight, we pray for that courage. We pray for the people of the Gulf. And we pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a brighter day. Thank you, God Bless You, and may God Bless the United States of America.
Oil Containment Stops For Five Hours After Lightning Strike, Fire
June 15, 2010
(Updated 3:40 p.m.) A lightning strike and resulting fire shut down the oil containment effort in the Gulf of Mexico for about five hours today, according to BP.
According to BP, a small fire was observed at the top of the derrick on the Discoverer Enterprise at the leak site. The fire was quickly extinguished. The preliminary review indicates the fire was caused by a lightning strike.
There were no injuries. All procedures were followed and, as a precaution, the oil containment operation was shut-down, according to BP. All safety systems operated as designed, the oil company said.
The drillship is where about 630,000 gallons of oil per day are being siphoned from the blown-out well a mile below at the floor of the Gulf. Currently, no oil is being contained as a result of the fire.
After final safety and operational assurance inspections, operations restarted mid-afternoon, according to BP.
Highway 97 Crash Injures One
June 15, 2010
One person was injured in a two vehicle crash Tuesday afternoon on Highway 97 south of Walnut Hill.
The accident happened about 2 p.m. just north of Tungoil Road. The driver of a Pontiac Grand Prix apparently rear-ended a Ford Expedition that had slowed or stopped for another car that was turning into a driveway.
The driver of the Grand Prix was transported to Atmore Community Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the Expedition was not injured.
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Atmore Ambulance and the Florida Highway Patrol responded to the crash.
The accident is still under investigation by the FHP.
Pictured top: The driver of this Pontiac Grand Prix was injured in a two vehicle accident Tuesday afternoon near Walnut Hill. Pictured below: The driver of this Ford Expedition was not injured. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Full Text: Obama’s Speech At Pensacola Naval Air Station
June 15, 2010
The following is President Barack Obama’s complete speech this morning at Pensacola Naval Air Station:
Well, hello, Pensacola! (Applause.) It is great to be here. I want everybody, first of all, to give a big round of applause to Chief Elison Talabong for leading us in the pledge and singing our National Anthem — (applause) — to Lieutenant Commander Randy Ekstrom for the wonderful invocation. (Applause.)
I want to thank your outstanding local leaders for welcoming me here today, including Captains Chris Plummer, Mike Price and Brad Martin. Give them a big round of applause. (Applause.) And your great senior enlisted leaders, including Master Chief Mike Dollen, give them a big round of applause. (Applause.)
I want to thank all the spouses and families who are joining us here today. You hold our military families together, so we honor your service as well.
It is great to be here in Pensacola — America’s oldest naval air station, “the cradle of naval aviation.” We’ve got Navy — all the students of the Naval Air Technical Training Center. (Applause.) We’ve got Training Wing Six, maybe a few Blue Angels. We’ve got the United States Marines in the house — (applause) — maybe a few Air Force and Army, too. (Applause.)
Now, I don’t know how many could be here, because they’re out there on the water right now, responding to the spill — but I want to thank all the folks at Coast Guard Station Pensacola for their outstanding work. (Applause.) And I know somebody who is especially proud of them, and that’s the former Commandant of the Coast Guard who postponed his retirement to answer his country’s call once more and coordinate the federal response effort to the spill — and that’s Admiral Thad Allen. Please give him a big round of applause. (Applause.)
Now, I was just down at the Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier, at the Fish Sandwich Snack Bar. Now, I don’t know if any of you ever checked it out. It’s a nice spot. We were there with some of Florida’s state and local leaders to discuss the situation here. I want to acknowledge the hard work that’s being done by the governor of Florida, Charlie Crist; Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, Alex Sink; Senators Bill Nelson, George LeMieux, representatives who are here today — we got Jeff Miller and Corrine Brown and Ted Deutch. Please give them a big round of applause. (Applause.)
We’ve got Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson and Pensacola Mayor Mike Wiggins. Thank you very much for your outstanding efforts. (Applause.)
I know all of you join me in thanking these leaders and their communities — because they’re your neighbors — for the incredible support that they give all the men and women and your families here in Pensacola. So we’re grateful to you.
But this is my fourth visit to the Gulf Coast since the start of this spill. Yesterday, I was over in Gulfport, Mississippi; Theodore, Alabama; and now Pensacola — assessing the situation, reviewing the response, seeing what needs to be done better and faster, and talking with folks — whether fishermen or small business people and their families — who are seeing their lives turned upside-down by this disaster.
Here in Pensacola, the beautiful beaches are still open. The sand is white and the water is blue. So folks who are looking for a good vacation, they can still come down to Pensacola. People need to know that Pensacola is still open for business. But that doesn’t mean that people aren’t angry. That doesn’t mean that people aren’t scared. That doesn’t mean that people have concerns about the future — we all have those concerns. And people have every right to be angry.
Those plumes of oil are off the coast. The fishing waters are closed. Tar balls have been coming ashore. And everybody is bracing for more.
So I’ll say today what I’ve been saying up and down the Coast over the last couple of days and over the last month. Yes, this is an unprecedented environmental disaster — it’s the worst in our nation’s history. But we’re going to continue to meet it with an unprecedented federal response and recovery effort — the largest in our nation’s history. This is an assault on our shores, and we’re going to fight back with everything we’ve got.
And that includes mobilizing the resources of the greatest military in the world. (Applause.) Here at Naval Air Station Pensacola, you’ve been one of the major staging areas. You’ve helped to support the response effort. And I thank you for that, and I know the people of Pensacola thank you for that. And all along the Gulf coast, our men and women in uniform — active, Guard, and Reserve — from across the country are stepping up and helping out.
They’re soldiers on the beaches putting out sandbags and building barriers and cleaning up the oil, and helping people process their claims for compensation from BP. They’re sailors and Marines offering their ships and their skimmers and their helicopters and miles of boom. They’re airmen overhead, flying in equipment and spraying dispersant. And, of course, there are Coast Guardsmen and women on the cutters, in the air, working around the clock.
And when I say this is the largest response of its kind in American history, I mean it. We’ve got more than 5,000 vessels on site — skimmers, tugs, barges, dozens of aircraft. More than 27,000 personnel are on the scene, fighting this every day, putting out millions of feet of boom and cleaning the shores.
All told, we’ve authorized the deployment of 17,500 National Guardsmen to respond to this crisis. So far, only about 1,600 have been activated. That leaves a lot of Guardsmen ready to help. And if our governors call on them, I know they’ll be ready, because they’re always ready.
So I want the people of this region to know that my administration is going to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to deal with this disaster. That includes the additional actions I announced yesterday to make sure that seafood from the Gulf is safe to eat. It includes steps we’ve taken to protect the safety of workers involved in the cleanup. It includes the new command structure I announced this morning to make sure states and local communities like Pensacola have the autonomy and the resources that they need to go forward.
And that includes something else — making sure BP pays for the damages that it has caused — (applause) — because this isn’t just an environmental disaster. For many families and communities, it’s an economic disaster. Here in Pensacola and the Panhandle, tourism is everything. And when the tourists stay home, it ripples out and hits folks across these communities — the charter boats, the hotels, the restaurants, the roadside stores, the shops, the suppliers, the dive shops. And if your inland waters are contaminated — if the bays and bayous are contaminated — it could be devastating, changing the way of life down here for years to come.
I’m going to speak to the nation tonight about this. But let me say to the people of Pensacola and the Gulf Coast: I am with you, my administration is with you for the long haul to make sure BP pays for the damage that it has done and to make sure that you are getting the help you need to protect this beautiful coast and to rehabilitate the damaged areas, to revitalize this region, and to make sure that nothing like this happens ever again. That is a commitment I am making to the people of Florida and people all across this Gulf.
Now, that spirit — (applause) — that spirit of resolve and determination and resilience, that’s the same spirit we see in all of you, the men and women in uniform, the spirit we’ll need to meet other challenges of our time. Obviously the news has been dominated lately by the oil spill, but our nation is at war and all of you have stepped forward. You volunteered. You took an oath. You stood tall and you said, “I will serve.”
And here at Pensacola, you’re carrying on the proud tradition of naval aviation that spans a century. Here at the Barrancas National Cemetery, our heroes from yesterday’s wars are still inspiring us. And like generations before you, you’re no strangers to sacrifice. Our prayers are with the families and friends of the crews that you lost in that training exercise two months ago. Today, we send out our thoughts and prayers to all the folks from Pensacola on the frontlines at this very moment, including Iraq and Afghanistan. They are making us incredibly proud.
And so are you. As naval aviators and naval flight officers, you’ll soon earn your “Wings of Gold.” Many of you will prove yourselves as indispensable air crews — the mechanics, the engineers, the electricians, the maintenance crews — people’s lives depending on what you do each and every day.
I know you’re looking ahead to your first operational tours — to join the fleet and your squadrons. And within weeks, some of you may find yourselves serving on a carrier deck in the Arabian Sea or working a busy flight line in Afghanistan. And as you begin your careers, as you look ahead to a life of service, I want you to know — on behalf of the American people — that your nation thanks you, your nation appreciates you, your nation will stand with you every step of the way.
And as your Commander-in-Chief, I want you to know something: I will not hesitate to use force to protect the American people or our vital interests. But I will also never risk your lives unless it’s absolutely necessary. And if it is necessary, we are going to back you up to the hilt with the strategy and the clear mission and the equipment and the support that you need to get the job done right. That’s my promise to every one of you, every man and woman who wears America’s uniform.
That includes the right strategy in Iraq, where we’re partnering with the Iraqi people for their long-term security and prosperity. And thanks to the honor and the heroism of our troops, we are poised to end our combat mission in Iraq this summer — on schedule. (Applause.)
As we end the war in Iraq, we’re pressing forward in Afghanistan. We’re working to break the momentum of the Taliban insurgency and train Afghan security forces, strengthen the capacity of the Afghan government and protect the Afghan people.
We will disrupt and dismantle and ultimately defeat al Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates. (Applause.) And we will support the aspirations of people around the world as they seek progress and opportunity and prosperity, because that’s what we do — as Americans.
As you meet the missions we ask of you, we’re going to make sure you’re trained and equipped to succeed. That’s why we halted reductions in the Navy. That’s why we increased the size of the Marine Corps. That’s why we’re investing in the capabilities and technologies of tomorrow. And as we come up on the 100th anniversary of naval aviation next year, we’re committed to the next generation of aircraft. We’re going to keep you the best-trained, best-led, best-equipped military that the world has ever known. (Applause.)
Some of that is about technology. But the most important thing in our military is our people — it’s all of you. And as you advance through the ranks and start families of your own, we want to be there for your loved ones, too. This is one of the defining missions of the First Lady, Michelle Obama. On Sunday, she visited the Navy-Marine Corps team and their families at Camp Pendleton. And they had a tough week, because five outstanding Marines from Pendleton gave their lives last week in Afghanistan. During her visit, Michelle had a message for their families and for all military families: America is going to keep faith with you, too.
When a loved one goes to war, that family goes to war. That’s why we’re working to improve family readiness and increase pay and benefits, working to give you more time between deployments, increasing support to help spouses and families deal with the stresses and the separation of war.
But this can’t be the work of government alone. As Michelle has been saying, 1 percent of Americans may be fighting our wars, but 100 percent of Americans need to be supporting our men and women and their families in uniform. You guys shouldn’t be carrying the entire burden. That’s why Michelle is challenging every sector of American society to support our military families — not just now, with our nation at war, but at every stage of your lives.
So we’re improving care for our wounded warriors, especially those with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. We’re funding the Post-9/11 GI Bill — to give you and your families the chance to pursue your dreams. We’ve made a historic commitment to our veterans with one of the largest percentage increases to the VA budget in the past 30 years.
Those are concrete actions we’ve taken to meet the commitment I have to you and that the American people have to you. Because you’ve always taken care of America, America needs to take care of you. And that’s my main message here today. We’re all in this together. In our country, there isn’t a “military world” and a “civilian world.” We’re all Americans. There’s not Democrats and Republicans, when you take the long view — we’re all Americans. We all rise and fall together. And we all need to do our part to get through the challenges we face as a people.
So, yes, we’re emerging from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Too many folks are still out of work here in Florida and around the country. Yes, we’re a nation at war with adversaries who will stop at nothing to strike our homeland and would kill innocent people, women and children, with no compunction. Yes, we’re now battling the worst economic — environmental disaster in American history. Any one of these challenges alone would test our country. Confronting them all at once might overwhelm a lesser nation.
But look around you. Look at the person standing next to you. You look around and you see the strength and resilience that will carry us through.
You look at this installation and the forts that have stood watch over this bay and its people for centuries — through the rise and fall of empires, through a terrible Civil War — and as a nation healed itself, we became a beacon to the world. We’ve endured.
All of these men and women in uniform, all of you represent the same spirit of service and sacrifice as those who’ve gone before — who defeated fascism, defeated tyranny, prevailed in a long Cold War over communism. And now, in our time, you’ve toppled regimes based on terror and dictatorship, and you’ve given new hope to millions of people. You’ve earned your place among the greatest of generations.
And look at the people of this city and this region — fishermen who’ve made their lives on the water, families who’ve lived here for generations, hardworking folks who’ve had to endure more than their share — tough economic times and hurricanes and storms that forced so many families and communities to start over from scratch. But they never gave up. They started over, and they rebuilt stronger than before.
As Americans, we don’t quit. We keep coming. None of these challenges we’re facing are going to be easy. None of them are going to be quick, but make no mistake, the United States of America has gone through tough times before and we always come out stronger. And we will do so again. (Applause.)
And this city and this region will recover. It will thrive again. And America’s military will prevail in the mission to keep our country safe. And our nation will endure from these trials stronger than before. (Applause.) That is the history of the United States of America. That is the legacy of our Armed Forces. And I promise you that we will not falter.
Past generations have passed on this precious gift to us, and future generations are depending on us. And as I look out on each and every one of your faces, I’m absolutely confident that you will meet that challenge.
God bless you and God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
Full Text: Obama’s Remarks On Pensacola Beach
June 15, 2010
The following are remarks from President Barack Obama after a briefing with Admiral Thad Allen and local officials on the BP Oil Spill at the Fish Sandwich Snack Bar on Pensacola Beach Tuesday morning.
We just had a very useful discussion, and I want to thank Governor Crist and the congressional delegation, as well as our owner here, Mike Pinzone, of this wonderful facility overlooking this beautiful beach. I want to also thank the mayor of Pensacola for his hospitality.
What we’ve done is to try to find out from local business owners, local officials, as well as state officials like Alex Sink and Senator LeMieux and others, how the response can be most effective here specifically in Florida. And when you look out over this unbelievable beach, one of the things that you can see is that so far at least this beach has not been affected.
This is a still place that’s open for business and welcoming so vacationers and people can have a wonderful holiday here. And I know the mayor wants to emphasize that. But there are obviously fears about the oil that is offshore.
And what we emphasized was that we’re going to be doing everything we can — make sure that there are skimmers out, there are booms out, and a response to keep the oil offshore. But even if we do the best possible job on that, what the mayor described, what Mike described as a local business owner here, is that they’re still being affected by perceptions — that business has dropped off as much as 40 percent in this area. And that has an impact on the entire economy. You saw the same thing yesterday when we were in Alabama and Mississippi.
So a couple of things that we’ve done. Number one, to make sure that there is a nimble and effective local response, Thad Allen has now assigned deputy incident commanders to each of the individual states, so Florida will have its own deputy incident commander, as Mississippi and Alabama do.
In addition to the sites in Houma and in Mobile, we’re also going to set up an incident management team in Tallahassee, here in Florida. All this is designed to make sure that on the federal response we are able to work and make decisions at a local level in response to the suggestions of people who know the communities best and know the waters best. And my expectation is, is that we’re going to see a lot of good ideas coming from the local area that we can implement right away, as opposed to waiting until it goes all the way to the top.
But the other thing that we’re hearing here is the same thing we heard yesterday, which is businesses need help right now. I’m going to be addressing this this evening, the issue of how we can make sure that claims to businesses that have been affected are responded to quickly and fairly.
I’ll be meeting with BP chairmen and officials tomorrow to discuss the stories that I’ve heard from people like Mike. Mike has put in all the paperwork. In fact, he has documented more than amply the fact that his business has been deeply affected by this crisis, but he hasn’t received the compensation that he needs to make sure that his business stays open.
And I told Mike — and I want every business person here in Florida to know — that I will be their fierce advocate in making sure that they are getting the compensation they need to get through what is going to be a difficult season. But what I described for them is the fact that if we can get through this season, cap this well, mitigate the damage — we’re not going to eliminate it completely; there’s going to be damage to the shoreline — but if we can reduce it as much as possible, help businesses get through this season, clean it up, by the time we get to next season there’s no reason why this beach behind us is not going to be as beautiful as ever, and Pensacola and other coastline communities across Florida won’t be thriving as they always have.
So the key right now is just to make sure that people like Mike are helped, that they’re able to get through what’s going to be a tough time. And I told him and I told the governor and all the other Florida officials here that we’re not going to go away. We’re just going to keep on at this until we are able to not only get back to normal, but maybe even get better than it was before this crisis.
So I appreciate everybody’s input, and we look forward to continuing to work with you on this enormous challenge.
END
9:53 A.M. CDT
Obama’s Escambia Tour
June 15, 2010
President Barack Obama arrived on Pensacola Beach this morning as a crowd chanted “Save our beach!” before heading to address the military at Pensacola Naval Air Station.
“This city and this region will recover and it will thrive again,” Obama said in a speech at Pensacola Naval Air Station.. “Our nation will endure from these trials stronger than before.”
Obama promised that the unprecedented national disaster will continue to be met with an unprecedented federal response, including from the military. Click here to read the full speech.
Obama walked Pensacola Beach prior to the speech with Gov. Charlie Crist, and met with Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen. There was no sign of oil as Crist and Obama stood near the water’s edge. Click here to read Obama’s full beach remarks.
Along the motorcade’s route, Obama passed a variety of signs, ranging from “Obama Rocks” and “Thanks for your support Mr. President” to “Kick Tony’s ass for us”, “Save our bay” and “Day 55 no skimmers”.
As oil plumes threaten Escambia County’s shoreline, President Barack Obama spent Monday night in Pensacola in preparation for a tour of Pensacola Beach and a national address tonight from the Oval Office in which he is expected to ask BP to set aside billions in cash to pay for future cleanup efforts.
Facing mounting pressure following weeks of frustratingly slow results, Obama is expected to turn up the heat on the oil drilling giant to set up an escrow account to make it easier for business and individuals to collect for damages brought on by the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
Obama began a three-state tour Monday in Mississippi (click here for story), the first leg of a trip that also included Mobile and Baldwin counties, to bolster his presence over a disaster that threatens Florida’s coastal environmental and $60 billion a year tourism industry
The visit may be welcome by those who say the president hasn’t been engaged enough in the disaster, but it was a nightmare for morning commuters with several major roadways closed.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Sink rival for governor, is meeting Tuesday afternoon at the Capitol with former attorneys general Jim Smith and Bob Butterworth, who are leading a group looking into the state’s legal options as it considers filing suit against the oil company to pay claims. The meeting begins at 2 p.m. EDT.
LeMieux and several other Republicans are pressing Obama to waive portions of the Jones Act, a federal law that sets maritime rules for shipping within U.S. waters, to make it easier for internationally flagged skimmer ships to begin work in the Gulf.
“We need as much help as we can get in cleaning up the Gulf,” LeMieux said. “There is no reason why every single skimmer vessel should not be heading to the Gulf to skim the oil. Preventing the oil from washing ashore and creating even more damage is what we need to be focused on in the next few weeks.”
Also Monday, Lawton “Bud” Chiles, son of the late governor and himself a no-party gubernatorial candidate, is calling on BP to pay a “bounty” to citizens who recover oil and tar balls on the beaches and in the Gulf.
Chiles said a per-gallon or per-pound cash incentive would give thousands of citizens an opportunity and an incentive to participate in the clean-up efforts.
Florida remains on a heightened emergency response alert as it waits for probable landfall of a large plume of weathered oil that now sits ominously close to Florida’s Panhandle.
Scientists have estimated that between 40 million and 100 million gallons of oil have been released into the Gulf since the BP-operated drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 workers.
Earlier Monday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission closed a 23-mile stretch of coastline from Pensacola Beach water tower to the Alabama state line to fishing. The ban extends nine miles into the Gulf.
Pictured top: President Barack Obama talks with workers at an oil containment boom repair facility as he tours the Theodore Staging Facility in Theodore, Ala. on Monday. Pictured inset: President Barack Obama, third from left, rides a ferry from Dauphin Island, Ala., to Fort Morgan, Ala., past a natural gas rig, as he visits the Gulf Coast region affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Monday. From left, National Incident Commander Adm. Thad Allen, Mayor of Dauphin Island, Al., Jeff Collier; President Obama, Mayor of Gulf Shores, Al., Robert Craft, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley; and Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett. White House photos by Chuck Kennedy for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
News Service Florida contributed to this report.