Breaking News: BP reportedly agrees to put $20 billion in an escrow account to cover oil spill claims.

Last night President Obama addressed the nation in his first ever Oval Office address. The speech followed the President's two-day trip to the Gulf region on Monday and Tuesday to inspect conditions on the ground and talk with people living in communities being adversely affected by the spill. In his address, Obama vowed to use any and all resources available to fight the oil spill in the Gulf. He predicted that "in the coming days and weeks," the attempts to stop or contain the leak "should capture up to 90 percent of the oil leaking out of the well."

Obama also ratcheted up pressure on BP, stating that he will tell BP's Chairman Carl-Henric Svangerb "that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company's recklessness." President Obama made no references in his speech to the government's revised estimates for the size of the spill that were released earlier Tuesday. A government panel said that as much as 60,000 barrels a day could be flowing out of the ruptured oil well into the Gulf of Mexico. The figure of 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day is significantly larger than last week's revised estimates of 25,000 to 30,000 barrels per day. At the revised rate, roughly 2.5 million gallons of oil are pouring into the gulf every day. This means that the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez is spilling into the Gulf every four days.
 

First person account from CWN-Florida's Linda Young: Please read this excellent letter from long time Clean Water Network member and activist Linda Young, Clean Water Network of Florida, about the recent press conference she attended at the Escambia County Emergency Operations Center where Senator Bill Nelson gave a briefing about the impact of the oil spill on Florida's beaches.