Obama makes no reference to BP oil disaster in SOTU speech

In an address to the nation from the Oval Office seven months ago, President Obama labeled the BP oil disaster the "worst environmental disaster America has ever faced" and promised that the Gulf Coast region's troubles would continue to be a top priority for his administration.

"The oil spill represents just the latest blow to a place that has already suffered multiple economic disasters and decades of environmental degradation that has led to disappearing wetlands and habitats," Obama said at the time. "And the region still hasn't recovered from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That's why we must make a commitment to the Gulf Coast that goes beyond responding to the crisis of the moment. I make that commitment tonight."

So what did the president say about the spill and the ongoing cleanup and recovery efforts in the region in his State of the Union speech? Out of the 6845 words we counted in the advance text of the speech, the word "oil" came up only in reference to Obama's call to end taxpayer subsidies to oil companies, because, in his words, "they're doing just fine on their own."

But there was no mention of BP or the Gulf Coast. Nothing. No mention of distraught, out-of-work fishermen dropping to their knees at public forums to plead for financial help, and no mention of the oil that continues to saturate the region's marshes and beach areas.

Perhaps Carol Browner failed to tell him that the "vast majority" of the oil wasn't actually gone?

(Photo of Obama touring Grand Isle, Louisiana's oiled beach: AP/Evan Vucci)