Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen (left), commander in charge of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill response, speaks to reporters in flight over the spill on Wednesday. Alongside is Capt. Steve Truhlar, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Training Center in Mobile, Ala. The Obama administration ran afoul of environmentalists Wednesday by approving a new oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, even as millions of gallons... 

Todd Farrar with SCAT (Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Team) holds up hard tar balls found on the beach in Pass Christian, Mississippi May 12, 2010. The oil slick from the huge uncontrolled spill in the Gulf of Mexico has broken into smaller parts, and while potentially catastrophic, may pose less threat of a massive landfall, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen said on Friday. “The character...