On his own Louisiana Governor Jindal sent out barges into the Gulf to vacuum up thousands of gallons of leaking BP oil before it hit the Louisiana Coast. And it was a plan that was working. Until the U.S. Coast Guard halted the barges to determine if the barges were equipped with fire extinguishers and safety vests.

The enemy is the oil," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Dan Lauer.

But the Coast Guard ordered the stoppage because of reasons that Jindal found frustrating. The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble contacting the people who built the barges.

The governor said he didn't have the authority to overrule the Coast Guard's decision, though he said he tried to reach the White House to raise his concerns.

"They promised us they were going to get it done as quickly as possible," he said. But "every time you talk to someone different at the Coast Guard, you get a different answer."

Clarice Feldman