President Obamas Oval Office Address on the PB Oil Spill - Assignment Example

Analysis of President Obama’s Oval Office Address on the PB Oil Spill Introduction: The president begins his speech by referring to the ‘multitude ofchallenges’ that the nation faces which includes the adverse effects of recession and the terrorist threat from Al Qaeda. The president then brings the attention of his audience towards the PB oil spill that causes great damage to the nation’s shores as well as its citizens (To quote his own words: “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”). Similarly, the statistical data offered by the president in the initial part of the speech highlights the gravity of the issue and he calls for immediate attention into the matter. Partition: After convincing his audience of the seriousness of the issue, the president elaborates on the measures undertaken by the American Government to tackle the challenge. The president assures his citizens that he has undertaken all the possible measures to bring the oil spill under control by assembling the “nation’s best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge -- a team led by Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist” who is also the nation’s Secretary of Energy. The president is optimistic that the collaborative efforts from the team members, scientists at the national labs, experts from academia and other oil companies are capable of capturing “up to 90 percent of the oil leaking out of the well” within a few weeks by mobilizing additional equipment and technology. However, the president is conscious that the oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico is going to affect the nation as an epidemic and that the nation will have to suffer from its adverse effects for months and years. The president then shares his plan of action for tackling and making sure that such a catastrophe never again takes place. Cleaning up the oil offers a great challenge to the Federal Government and so this comes at the top of his action plans. The environmental clean up is entrusted to the highly experienced Admiral Thad Allen and almost 30,000 personnel, thousands of ships and vessels, and 17, 000 National Guards members are deployed for this purpose. The president also tries to highlight that because of the collaborative efforts from the Federal Government, “millions of gallons of oil have already been removed from the water through burning, skimming and other collection methods”. The second action plan of the president is aimed at the “recovery and restoration of the Gulf Coast” as he is well aware that despite the government’s efforts the oil spill has damaged the nation’s coastline and its wild life. The president also promises the nation that he will talk to the manager of the BP and ask him to provide the necessary compensation to the shrimpers, fishermen and the business men whose sole livelihood depends on the Gulf Coast. The third of the response plan of the president aims at the prevention of such disasters in the future. For this, the president has established a National Commission to find out the actual reasons that led to the disaster and to offer recommendations for the future. The president also admits in his speech that the Minerals Management Service, in charge of regulating drills and issuing permits, need to move away from all types of corruption and function more efficiently. For this, he strongly advocates that the nation needs better regulation, better safety standards and better enforcement policies towards offshore drilling for oil. Conclusion: Towards the end of his speech Obama stresses on the need to embrace a clear energy future for the nation and he purports that the transition to clear energy resources will see the development of the economy and will create millions of jobs for its citizens. For this, he calls for collaborative efforts from the part of the private and public sectors which include workers, entrepreneurs, scientists and the other citizens. Obama’s speech ends on an optimistic note. He concludes his speech by restating that Americans had a long tradition of having faced a variety of challenges and therefore they do have the potential to overcome the present crisis. He prays the Almighty to offer his citizens the strength and courage to face and find solutions for any such challenges like the present oil spill problem. Delivery: The speech clearly demonstrates a variety of strengths. The president is successful in attracting the attention of the audience (the citizens) through his introductory reference to the multitudes of challenges faced by the nation from time to time. The speech addresses almost all related issues connected with the oil spill and the solutions for the issues are also being suggested in the body of the speech. Similarly, the speech ends with a clear cut message and call of action to the Americans that they should show the courage and strength to withstand any such challenges that the nation faces. The weaknesses of the speech mainly lie in his argument that the manager of the BP is solely responsible for the oil spill and that he needs to offer compensation for the affected people. Many of the audience are likely to consider it the duty of the Federal government to offer such compensations to the needy without waiting for the oil company to respond to such compensation needs. One can also come across certain digressions from the main issue when the president elaborates on the transition from fossil fuels to clear energy resources. Audience Analysis and Adaptation: As it is clear, the oval office speech is so carefully prepared to satisfy all types of citizens in the nation. The speech not only highlights the remarkable efforts made by the government to tackle the issue but it also seeks to offer possible solutions for all related issues. The speech creates an impression in the minds of the audience that the Federal government’s actions and policies with regard to the issue were highly commendable. Similarly, the president takes special efforts to address the compensation needs of the affected people. Thus, it can be concluded that the speech was aimed at various demographic groupings that form the American population. Overall Evaluation: The greatest strength of the speech is that it boosts the morale of the Americans to face any challenges that the nation comes across. The speech highlights the action plan and measures undertaken by the government to tackle the issue of the oil spill and offers solution to most of the related issues. The speech could have been more effective if the president could offer compensation and financial aids to the affected population on his own rather than asking the manager of the BP to do so. Works Cited Remarks by the President to the Nation on the BP Oil Spill. Oval Office: The White House, June 15, 2010. 26 Jun. 10 < http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-nation-bp-oil-spill>. Read More