Time to end the Gulf drilling moratorium?
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is backing a campaign to overturn Obama's six-month deepwater drilling moratorium. Is the ban doing more harm than good?
A federal judge in New Orleans plans to rule by Wednesday on whether to overturn President Obama's six-month moratorium on deepwater oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil-services companies, backed by Louisiana officials, say the administration overstepped its authority by temporarily banning both existing and new drilling after the massive BP oil spill. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, says the moratorium is needlessly devastating the state's economy, but Justice Department lawyers say the BP disaster exposed safety gaps that must be closed before deepwater exploration can resume. Is the moratorium necessary, or is it time to lift it? [UPDATE: Subsequent to the posting of this story, U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman lifted the six-month ban.]
Obama is killing the Gulf Coast economy for nothing: "President Barack Obama doesn't seem to get it," say the editors of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Shuttering 30 deepwater rigs, which directly or indirectly support as many as 24,000 jobs, could do more harm to the local economy than the spill itself. And a moratorium this "broad" isn't even necessary for safety — why not rigorously inspect existing rigs and let them resume operation? That would be just as effective at preventing another spill.
"Obama administration has drilling moratorium myopia"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Bobby Jindal's the one not seeing straight: "Even advocates of expanded deepwater drilling should be able to recognize why Jindal's position is stupid beyond belief," says Jed Lewison at Daily Kos. Resuming drilling before we figure out what went wrong — and when "even the oil industry acknowledges [that] we don't currently possess the ability to contain spills like the BP blowout" — could easily lead to another disaster. And that won't just devastate the economy and the environment. "It could very well mean the end of all offshore drilling altogether."
If the drilling rigs leave, the region will suffer for years: The owners of these rigs, which rent for up to $500,000 a day, can't afford to leave them idle, says Scripps News in an editorial. So many of them are probably looking for drilling jobs elsewhere, and if they go "it might be years before they return to the Gulf." That would be a tragic waste, especially since "the BP blowout was a rare and unfortunate exception to the over 42,000 wells that have been drilled in the Gulf."
"Obama should lift Gulf drilling moratorium"
The oil jobs aren't going anywhere: Moratorium or no moratorium, "the oil and gas industry is going to be back," says Steven Mufson in The Washington Post. "Willie Sutton robbed banks because that's where the money is. And oil companies venture into deep waters for exploration because that's where the oil is."
"Trend toward deep-water drilling likely to continue"
.....................................
SEE MORE OF THE WEEK'S COVERAGE OF THE BP OIL SPILL:
• Punishing BP: 6 brutal proposals
• BP oil spill: 9 strange facts
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Voters know Biden and Trump all too well'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Is the Gaza war tearing US university campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
DOJ settles with Nassar victims for $138M
Speed Read The settlement includes 139 sexual abuse victims of the former USA Gymnastics doctor
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published