Gulf drilling moratorium: Part deux

As you know, Federal District Court Judge Martin Feldman on Tuesday issued an injunction prohibiting the government from enforcing its broad six month moratorium on drilling in the Gulf.  But, the saga goes on.

Later that day, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, in testimony before Congress, advised that he would soon be issuing a new, and better version of the moratorium.  So, Hornbeck Offshore Services (the “lead” plaintiff in the case before Judge Feldman) went back before Judge Feldman to seek an order telling the government that, Salazar’s remarks notwithstanding, the moratorium has been lifted, and drilling may commence.  Meanwhile, the government filed a motion before Judge Feldman asking that the moratorium be left in place while the government appeals Feldman’s Order.

Today, Judge Feldman denied the government’s request, and thus, there is no more moratorium.

The part that caught my attention, however, was a piece of the government’s argument explaining why the moratorium should stay in place.

Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar, in addition to appealing the court’s decision, “will undertake a process to issue a new suspension decision,” the U.S. said in court papers filed with the request for a stay. This would reflect “information learned since the original decision” and provide “further explanation of the need for a pause in deepwater drilling operations,” according to the filing.

What could the government possibly have learned between Tuesday and today?  And, if the word “decision” in the above quote refers to the original decision to impose the moratorium, why didn’t the government bring that important “information” to the court’s attention before Tuesday’s ruling?

It’s not nice to “fool” with a Federal District Court Judge.  As an Assistant United States Attorney, had I done what what Secretary Salazar did, I would be posting this from a jail cell.

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SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

8 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on June 24, 2010 at 2:04 pm

    Man, they really want the drilling to cease (and the Gulf state economies to crash, and the price of oil to rise).  What a shame that the interests of the U.S. don't come first, inasmuch as any other country can and will drill in the Gulf, and Øbama can't say a word.

     

    What next?  Telling farmers that petroleum based fertilizers are verboten, overturning the nation's breadbasket?



  2. porschepete on June 24, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    Hey Dims they allready turned off the water in California. Say good by to 

    California almonds and your leafy greens. So the peskey  farmers won't be needing 

    that petroleum based fertilizer anymore. 



    • Dimsdale on June 25, 2010 at 9:35 am

      Even arugula?  Surely Øbama would not stand for that!  😉



  3. DuffTerrall on June 24, 2010 at 5:13 pm

    But I thought that we were supposed to listen to the courts!? I mean, they're supposed to interpret the Constitution, right? Who should we let rule on it, those scary Michigan militia guys with the guns?! <gasp>



    • Dimsdale on June 25, 2010 at 9:35 am

      Maybe we should apply Democrat rules to Roe v. Wade…..



  4. gillie28 on June 25, 2010 at 9:29 pm

    Impressive that the govt. learned so much in two days – pity they couldn't apply those speedy resources to actually cleaning up the spill.  Speaking of which, this only gets more bizarre…KEVIN COSTNER TO THE RESCUE:

    "It was treated as an oddball twist in the otherwise wrenching saga of the BP oil spill when Kevin Costner stepped forward to promote a device he said could work wonders in containing the spill's damage. But as Henry Fountain explains in the New York Times, the gadget in question — an oil-separating centrifuge — marks a major breakthrough in spill cleanup technology. And BP, after trial runs with the device, is ordering 32 more of the Costner-endorsed centrifuges to aid the Gulf cleanup" (Yahoo news).

    The article states this technology is actually effective and has been tested successfully under very stringent conditions.  Costner said he's had huge problems bringing the technology (invented by his brother) to the market because of government red tape, specifically current environmental regulation.  Another example of the stupidity of the rigidness in government bureacracy vs. COMMON SENSE.



  5. Law-AbidingCitizen on June 26, 2010 at 5:19 am

    The Obama regime will order that it be powered by mules (DemocRAT Mules) but only if the ASPCA files an exhaustive review of the health of the mules working under such conditions.

    This is Obama's Waterloo and he ain't on the winning side.

    Where's Bush when we NEED him?



    • gillie28 on June 26, 2010 at 9:55 pm

      Lawabiding – that would make a great bumper sticker:  Where's Bush When We Need Him!!!!



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