WASHINGTON (AP) -- A majority of Americans disapprove of how President Barack Obama has handled the devastating Gulf oil spill though far more blame BP for what people call a sluggish two-month response.
      That's according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll released Tuesday.
      The survey found that 52 percent say they don't approve of Obama's handling of the spill, a shift from last month when a big chunk of people withheld judgment. But Obama's overall job performance rating didn't take a hit; it stayed virtually the same at 50 percent.
      The public is directing most of its ire at the oil company that leased the rig that caused the leak of millions of gallons of crude. A stunning 83 percent disapprove of BP's performance in the aftermath of the April 20 rig explosion.

      President Barack Obama is telling residents of coastal Florida areas threatened by the spreading Gulf of Mexico oil spill that his administration will be with them for the long haul.
      Obama says that includes making sure British oil company BP pays for the damage it has done, that Florida gets the help it needs to protect its coast and that such an environmental disaster never happens again.
      Obama is wrapping up a two-day visit to coastal areas affected by the spill. It was his first visit to Florida to assess the response. He began the day with a stroll along the unsullied white sands of Pensacola Beach. Obama returns to Washington in the afternoon to prepare for his prime-time Oval Office address on the oil spill.

      Congress grills oil execs on preparations for major spill

      WASHINGTON (AP) - Members of Congress aren't reserving their criticism just for BP. They also have a few choice words for other big oil producers.
      On Capitol Hill today, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are accusing the largest oil companies of being no better prepared than BP for averting an environmental catastrophe.
      California Democrat Henry Waxman calls the spill response plans nothing more than "paper exercises," comparing them to BP's failed plan for plugging the spill a mile underwater.
      Executives from BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell are testifying to to the panel today.
      Some executives sought to distance themselves from BP. ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson told the committee that the Gulf spill would not have occurred if BP had properly designed its deepwater well.
      Chevron CEO John Watson said his company's deep water drilling activities "are safe and environmentally sound,"

      BP gets OK to burn off captured oil, gas at sea

      PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (AP) - BP now has the go-ahead to start burning oil and gas piped up from the damaged well on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.
      It's part of the company's effort to more than triple how much crude it is keeping from pouring into the Gulf.
      Federal authorities late yesterday gave the company permission to use a new technique. It involves pumping oil from the busted wellhead to a special ship on the surface. There, it will be burned off, rather than collected.
      BP announced yesterday that it hopes to trap as much as 2.2 million gallons of oil a day by the end of June as it deploys additional containment equipment.

      Costner's centrifuges to be put to use

      Kevin Costner will have a role to play in the cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico.
      A spokesman for BP says the company has contracted with the actor and a company called Ocean Therapy Solutions to use 32 of their centrifuge machines. They are designed to separate oil from water.
      The BP spokesman says, "We recognized they had potential and put them through testing." He says the testing was done in shallow and deep water, and that the company was "very pleased by the results."
      Costner has tens of millions of dollars invested in the centrifuge. He has said it can clean oil from more than 200-thousand gallons of water a day.

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