New offshore oil moratorium not focused on depth [Obama Responds to Pro-drill Court Rulings]

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:applause:

Salazar has risen an inch or 2 with this, in my view.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iM1T8GtiBLmkcVfhDRmNAtfeJmJwD9GTSVQ00

New offshore oil moratorium not focused on depth

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER (AP) – 14 hours ago

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration issued a new moratorium Monday on deep-water offshore drilling that no longer bans operators by the depth of water they're operating in and stresses new evidence of safety concerns, hoping the revised ban will pass muster with the courts after the initial one was rejected.

The new ban does not appear to deviate much from the original moratorium, as it still targets deep-water drilling operators while defining them in a different way.

"More than 80 days into the BP oil spill, a pause on deep-water drilling is essential and appropriate to protect communities, coasts and wildlife from the risks that deep-water drilling currently pose," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in announcing the new moratorium. "I am basing my decision on evidence that grows every day of the industry's inability in the deep water to contain a catastrophic blowout, respond to an oil spill, and to operate safely."

Government lawyers on Monday evening asked the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to lift its order barring the moratorium because the new plan had been filed.

Lawyers also filed papers in U.S. District Court arguing lawsuits filed by oilfield service companies seeking to block the original moratorium should be dismissed given the terms of the new moratorium order.

The new moratorium was panned by industry groups and supported by environmentalists. more....

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1. "I am basing my decision..."---is that Salazar's or Obama's?

:shrug: