The White House used state-of-the-art PR techniques to sell an August 4 report announcing that some three-fourths of the BP oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico was "gone."

The conclusions came out fast and loud — White House energy czar Carol Browner trumpeted them on morning TV talk shows hours before the official press conference announcing the "report" they were supposedly based on.

The data to back those conclusions? The public and press are still waiting for that some three weeks later, and Obama administration officials are publicly refusing to disclose it to Congress — much less press and public — for months.

Meanwhile, independent scientists have challenged the report's data-free conclusions, and even federal government scientists are disowning those conclusions.

For further background on this story, see the following posts to SEJ's The Daily Glob:

• "BP Oil Spill: US Scientist Retracts Assurances Over Success of Cleanup," [2] August 19, 2010.
• "Top Democrat Criticizes U.S. Oil Spill Report," [3] August 19, 2010.
• "Conflicting Reports Stir Gulf Oil Dispute," [4] August 19, 2010.

See also:

• "NOAA Claims Scientists Reviewed Controversial Report; The Scientists Say Otherwise," [5] Huffington Post, August 20, 2010, by Dan Froomkin.
• "Major Study Proves Oil Plume That's Not Going Away," [6] Associated Press, August 19, 2010.