Obama Administration will try to reinstate deepwater drilling ban
TEXT OF STORY
Bill Radke: The Obama Administration is quickly regrouping to try to get its moratorium on deepwater drilling reinstated. Yesterday, a Louisiana judge overturned the six-month moratorium, saying it was too broad. Marketplace’s Mitchell Hartman reports this debate could go on for months.
Mitchell Hartman: The judge said the administration’s temporary ban on exploratory drilling wasn’t justified and could harm the economy of the Gulf region. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will be on Capitol Hill today explaining to Senators why it is sound and necessary to allow time to study what went wrong with the BP spill, and make sure future drilling is safe for workers and the environment.
Barbara Shook of the Energy Intelligence Group, a research outfit in Houston, says the moratorium is widely unpopular. Especially among the tens of thousands of oil workers who are involved in drilling operations that haven’t had safety problems.
Barbara Shook: I think it would be a big benefit if a blanket moratorium is withdrawn. But I think because of the egos involved it won’t be. This just adds to the uncertainty and draws the whole thing out.
And as the oil spill and its damage drag out, BP has announced that it has handed over responsibility for the spill to its local U.S. boss.
I’m Mitchell Hartman for Marketplace.
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