BP, Obama, and the United States Coast Guard?

In the Ron Howard movie Apollo 13, the 1970 US Space Program mission to the moon had to be aborted because a fault in electrical equipment inside one of the Service Module’s oxygen tanks produced an explosion. The response by NASA was immediate and adroit. Its leader gave his agency one critical directive – ‘work the problem people.’

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an economic and environmental catastrophe for the people and wildlife of the Gulf Coast. As a doctorate student in Public Policy with specialization in implementation, I was taught that bureaucracy was not a pejorative term. Yet, what we must understand, and this is the critical point, is that you should not ask or expect any bureaucracy to do something that is not part of its mission and institutional capacity.

The mission of the United States Coast Guard has five fundamental roles (Mission Statement US Coast Guard Website www.uscg.mil/top/missions):

Maritime Safety: Eliminate deaths, injuries, and property damage associated with maritime transportation, fishing, and recreational boating. The Coast Guard's motto is Semper Paratus—(Always Ready), and the service is always ready to respond to calls for help at sea.

Maritime Security: Protect America's maritime borders from all intrusions by: (a) halting the flow of illegal drugs, aliens, and contraband into the United States through maritime routes; (b) preventing illegal fishing; and (c) suppressing violations of federal law in the maritime arena.

Maritime Mobility: Facilitate maritime commerce and eliminate interruptions and impediments to the efficient and economical movement of goods and people, while maximizing recreational access to and enjoyment of the water.

National Defense: Defend the nation as one of the five U.S. armed services. Enhance regional stability in support of the
National Security Strategy, utilizing the Coast Guard’s unique and relevant maritime capabilities.

Protection of Natural Resources: Eliminate environmental damage and the degradation of natural resources associated with maritime transportation, fishing, and recreational boating.

It is clear that the Obama Administration made a critically mistake appointing the US Coast Guard as the lead US Government department/agency to deal with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. This is a catastrophic disaster that requires expertise and knowledge of oil drilling in deep waters, geology, deep-sea exploration, etc. The US Coast Guard does not have this expertise. You wouldn’t send the US Public Health Service on a combat mission to Afghanistan.

The Obama Administration was slow to act, did not correctly assess the full extend of damage this spill will cause, failed to expeditiously bring together the “best and brightest” to work the problem, and assigned the problem to the wrong department.

This analysis is not meant to degrade the capabilities of the US Coast Guard or the leadership of its Commandant, Admiral Bob Papp. Rather, in the last analysis, you can blame BP or some other private company for causing the spill; still it is the Obama Administration that has failed America.