Bloomberg: (hat tip to openmarket.org)"A New Orleans federal judge lifted the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed by President Barack Obama following the largest oil spill in U.S. history. ...
Obama temporarily halted all drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet on May 27 to give a presidential commission time to study improvements in the safety of offshore operations. More than a dozen Louisiana offshore service and supply companies sued U.S. regulators to lift the ban. The U.S. said it will appeal the decision.
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“The court is unable to divine or fathom a relationship between the findings and the immense scope of the moratorium,” Feldman said in his 22-page decision. “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.”
“The court cannot substitute its judgment for that of the agency, but the agency must ‘cogently explain why it has exercised its discretion in a given manner,’” Feldman said, citing a previous ruling. “It has not done so.” "
We will yet again see the curious spectre of a supposedly free nation, through its government, attempting to punish the oil industry that has been problem free in the gulf, by blinding reaching to shut down production. The age of Jefferson this is not.
I think the administration seeks to exacerbate the crisis to drive Cap and Trade legislation through, regardless of the consequences to Americans now, or in the future.
Similarly, the moratorium was enacted as an act of political grandstanding, one to appease the meandering populace who occasionally glance up as the tides of tyranny wash upon their shores. At least the courts have done the job right this time, curbing the excess of the executive branch.
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2 comments:
imagine all the jobs lost, now saved, only to be lost again if obama's challenges this and wins.
he can kiss many votes good bye, although it wont cost him a single gulf state.
Did you see the news earlier where the Feds ordered Louisiana to stop building the sand berms because some fish and wildlife agency began wringing its hands? If I was a fish, I'd sure prefer a sand berm to crude oil any day.
I'm beginning to think that the states should begin just telling the Feds to pound sand, and order the National Guard or State Police to guard the workers building the berms or skimming oil from federal interference, including the Coast Guard.
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