Judge blocks Obama moratorium on deep-water drilling
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 22, 2010; 3:45 PM
A federal judge in New Orleans on Tuesday blocked the six-month moratorium President Obama imposed on deep-water drilling in late May, and the White House said it would appeal the decision..
U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman said he issued an injunction because the Interior Department had acted capriciously and had failed to show that the oil spill triggered by the Deepwater Horizon rig blowout in April meant that there was imminent danger linked to all deep-water drilling. By contrast, he said, the harm to the industry and region was clear and concrete.
"An invalid agency decision to suspend drilling of wells in depths of over 500 feet simply cannot justify the immeasurable effect on the plaintiffs, the local economy, the gulf region, and the critical present-day aspect of the availability of domestic energy in this country," Feldman said. The injunction was sought by companies that provide services to offshore drilling.
"Are all airplanes a danger because one was?" he asked rhetorically. "All oil tankers like Exxon Valdez? All trains? All mines? That sort of thinking seems heavy-handed, and rather overbearing."
The moratorium had idled 33 rigs involved in exploration drilling....
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