I was impressed with the content of what the president said. I thought the two most important points were the initiatives to pre-fund the compensation fund and to start with a restoration group listening to a broad-based constituency. Both of these show an understanding that we to get these issues set before the nation’s attention moves on.

An escrow account of at least $10 billion administered by a special master would safeguard victims of the spill from the legal process that led to so many years of stress and disappointment for Exxon victims. Senator Begich has endorsed this approach and is introducing legislation. But BP hasn’t agreed, and I’m not sure how the government can seize the company’s assets absent their agreement or a legal judgment. The Supreme Court has made it clear that justice is the property of the oil industry, so I’m not sure how this happens unless Obama can use the prestige of his office to push it through.

The restoration czar is a good idea. During Exxon Valdez a cloud of bureaucrats and lawyers controlled restoration, and their work took too long, wasted too much money, and took too little account of local people’s wishes. Obama put one man in charge, and he specifically called for involvement from fishermen and tribes, among others.

The bad part of Obama’s speech came in his message. He used the langauge of warfare and pledged to fix the mess. We’re already involved in too many unwinnable wars and this is one more. The spill can’t be cleaned up and the environment can’t be fixed. By promising to do so the president assures that those who believe him will be disappointed. As I try to explain in The Fate of Nature, you can’t make war on a stain.

I was also sorry he didn’t call for sacrifice from the American people as we attempt to move to less use of fossil fuels. The fear of Democrats and environmentalists to face up to the fact that transition to a carbon-free economy will cost money and create economic dislocation will ultimately make it take longer and be more difficult. This was the moment to ask for people to do their part, if even just encouraging everyone to find one way to save energy each month.

Update 6/16/10
Obama has managed to talk BP out of $20 billion for spill victims. That is a major accomplishment and a first sign of things going differently this time. Details here.