Ask…

Should BP nuke its leaking well?

More than 70 days into the BP disaster and oil is still gushing from the broken well, leaving some to believe a nuclear explosion is the only solution left.

A nuclear fix to stop the leaking well has been touted online and in the occasional newspaper op-ed for weeks now. Washington has repeatedly dismissed the idea and BP execs say they are not considering an explosion — nuclear or otherwise.

But as a series of efforts to plug the 60,000 barrels of oil a day gushing from the sea floor have failed, talk of an extreme solution refuses to die.

Should BP nuke its leaking well?

Yes No Not sure

View Results  Loading ...

A boat passes through heavily oiled marsh near Pass a Loutre, Louisiana May 20, 2010. REUTERS/Lee Celano

Has the Obama administration’s response to the oil spill been enough?

As one of the country’s worst environmental catastrophes unfolds on his watch, President Barack Obama is under increasing pressure from lawmakers and residents of the fouled Gulf coast to take over the oil disaster response.

The word at the White House is that Obama is frustrated at the delays BP has encountered in stopping the leak. “Plug the damn hole,” he has told senior government officials.

Is it still “drill baby drill” in light of the spill?

“Drill baby, drill” was an enduring rally cry from Republicans in the 2008 presidential election. This past March, President Obama unveiled plans for a limited expansion of offshore oil drilling, in part to try to win GOP support for climate change legislation.

Then an undersea oil well ruptured in the Gulf of Mexico.

The oil spill that is threatening the coast of Louisiana has provided ammunition to critics of Obama’s proposal, and the White House sought to make clear there would be no new drilling authorized until the cause of the spill had been reviewed.