Obama pressures BP on compensation

Narayan Lakshman

Washington: The Obama administration would finally appear to be waking up to the wave of anger over its slow reaction to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This week the President is set to turn up the heat on BP over the question of compensation. He also made his fourth trip to the worst-affected areas of along the Gulf, this time in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

Over the weekend the White House joined the growing public clamour for BP to set up an escrow account to provide compensation for the clean-up and to those affected by the slick.

On Sunday David Axelrod, senior White House strategist, said on the NBC channel: “We want to make sure that money is escrowed for the legitimate claims that are going to be and are being made by businesses down in the gulf — people who have been damaged by this.” According to reports quoting administration officials, Mr. Obama will, in a speech from the Oval Office on Tuesday, outline a plan to legally compel BP to create an escrow account to compensate businesses and individuals for their losses.

Additionally the New York Times reported that White House officials were researching what legal authority the President had to compel BP to set aside money for claims.

Last week in a conversation with British Prime Minister David Cameron Mr. Obama noted that “BP must do all it can to respond effectively to the situation.” The White House had also warned BP that it had until the end of the weekend to speed up efforts to contain the oil spill.