By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A federal judge in New Orleans delivered a stunning blow to the Obama Administration yesterday when he overturned the President’s offshore drilling moratorium, saying the government failed to prove that the ban was necessary.
The Washington Times is reporting that Judge Martin L.C. Feldman issued an injunction on Tuesday, saying that the moratorium will hurt drilling-rig operators and suppliers.
He also accused the Interior Department of misstating the opinion of the experts it consulted. These experts, from the National Academy of Enginereing, have publicly stated that they never indicated any support for a blanket ban on drilling.
“Much to the government’s discomfort and this Court’s uneasiness, the summary also states that ‘the recommendations contained in this report have been peer-reviewed by seven experts identified by the National Academy of Engineering.’ As the plaintiffs, and the experts themselves, pointedly observe, this statement was misleading,” Judge Feldman said in his 22-page ruling.
“The court is unable to divine or fathom a relationship between the findings and the immense scope of the moratorium. The blanket moratorium, with no parameters, seems to assume that because one rig failed and although no one yet fully knows why, all companies and rigs drilling new wells over 500 feet also universally present an imminent danger.”
Feldman issued a separate order that “immediately prohibited” the U.S. from enforcing the drilling moratorium.
The Administration is already vowing to appeal the decision. Hours after Judge Feldman’s decision was announced, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he will issue a new order against such drilling.
The judge’s ruling is seen by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as another setback in the President’s plan to show the country that he’s in control of the two-month-old spill.
However, both Democrats and Republicans lawmakers from Gulf states have called on the president to end the blanket moratorium because of the negative effect it is having on the economy of a region that is already suffering catastrophic economic and environmental damage from the spill.
Experts from the state say a ban could cost as many as 20,000 jobs if the moratorium lasted for 18 months.
Oil company executives told Congress last week that if the moratorium is not lifted, they would be forced to move their rigs to other countries because they lose up to $1 million for every day a rig stands idle.
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