US President Barack Obama has vigorously defended his administration against criticism it has been too slow to act on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, insisting it had "mobilized on every front."
In his weekly radio and Internet address to Americans, Obama said his administration had set in motion the largest response to an environmental disaster in US history.
More than 1,900 ships and 20,000 people are helping to clean up the spill from the ruptured deepwater BP well, while more than 4.3 million feet of oil-trapping boom has been deployed, he said.
But opinion polls have consistently shown that a majority of Americans are unhappy with Obama's handling of the 47-day crisis, which has caused environmental devastation and threatens a multi-billion fishing industry and tourism.
In his weekly address, Obama again vowed to make sure BP paid "every single dime owed to people along the Gulf Coast." He told the company on Friday not to skimp on compensation for residents and businesses hurt by the spill, the biggest in U.S. history.
He also said BP appeared to be making progress in its latest attempt to control the spill, which involves placing a containment cap over the gushing oil well. The Coast Guard said the containment cap was collecting about 1,000 barrels a day, about 5 percent of the 19,000 barrels per day the U.S. government has estimated could be leaking from the well.
