NEW ORLEANS: It is an overlooked danger in oil spill crisis: The crude gushing from the well contains vast amounts of natural gas that could pose a serious threat to the Gulf of Mexico's fragile ecosystem.

New technologies hold the promise of benefits for society but they also carry risks. Public policy is supposed to weigh these risks and benefits and ensure that the latter outweighs the former, although this is a hard judgment to make.

Sreeram Chaulia

President Barack Obama scored a political victory by pressuring BP Plc to commit $20 billion for damages from an environmental disaster that

Leo Hickman

We could be waiting millions of years before the Hollywood star's

JACKIE CALMES and HELENE COOPER
WASHINGTON

Obama Meets BP Chairman, Chief Executive At White House

BRITISH energy giant BP Plc reached a tentative agreement with President Barack Obama on Wednesday to place about $20 billion in a special fund to pay damage claims from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Washington: US President Barack Obama, seeking to counter an image of detached leadership of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, will demand on Wednesday that BP Plc set aside billions of dollars to pay damages from the catastrophe.

On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama took the unusual step of speaking directly to the American people in a televised address from the Oval Office in the White House. Earlier presidents have also gone on TV in the Oval Office, but usually at times of war.