"A historic environmental protection bill is in danger after a massive oil spill put a new focus on the perils of offshore drilling, a feature that was supposed to win wider support for the legislation."

"Heavy winds continued to whip up high waves on the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, thwarting attempts to contain the growing slick that's washing ashore in southern Louisiana and threatening the Mississippi and Alabama coasts. Rough waves rolled over containment booms, pushing oil-slicked water closer to shore, where wetlands and other fragile ecosystems stand at risk."

Federal agencies and BP were embarrassed when their lowball estimates of the volume of oil spilling into the Gulf were corrected by a small, independent environmental group analyzing federal satellite data from their West Virginia office. The finding called into question the credibility of federal and company statements.

"Calling the expanding plume of oil rising from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico a crisis of dramatic proportion, President Barack Obama told Louisiana oyster farmers and the country Sunday that the full force of the federal government was focused on assisting southeast Louisiana."

"Along with officials' consistently cautious predictions about the scope of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, another group has been calling for a tempering of dire oil-spill forecasts: the Gulf of Mexico seafood industry."

"The oil spill spreading across the Gulf of Mexico is sending ripples through Florida and national politics, giving Gov. Charlie Crist a reason to withdraw his support for offshore drilling." Crist Thursday announced he would bolt the Republican party and run for re-election without party affiliation.

"Three words: oil-soaked shorebirds."

"The US government made its first major moves on Apr. 27 in response to the Apr. 20 explosion and fire on the Transocean Ltd. Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible rig in the Gulf of Mexico as the Departments of Interior and Homeland Security launched a joint investigation."

"Gov. Bobby Jindal [Thursday] morning issued a declaration of emergency stemming from the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico."

"Lawmakers on Tuesday asked the owner and operator of the oil rig that exploded last week in the Gulf of Mexico for documents as part of a congressional investigation into the accident."