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Permalink Reply by P.G. on October 25, 2010 at 4:51

Hmmm? Got to pay to see that one..

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Permalink Reply by essay on October 25, 2010 at 5:39

just google the title, but here's the full text anyway since it's such a short piece:

If Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is humming any tune these days, it might be: "I fought the law, and the law won." That sums up the Obama Administration's record trying to defend its response to the BP oil spill in court.

Federal Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans last week unceremoniously dumped the 10 safety regulations Mr. Salazar slapped on the drilling industry in June in the wake of the spill. The judge found Interior had ignored clear rule-making requirements. Public "notice and comment were required by law. The government did not comply," and so the rules are void, declared Judge Feldman, who is the same judge who previously threw out the Administration's deep water drilling moratorium as unjustified by either science or safety.

This latest ruling will have little practical effect, but it is nonetheless instructive. Last month the White House issued new rules designed to supersede those the judge has now tossed. The court nonetheless appeared eager to send a message that even Administrations in the middle of political uproars are obliged to follow the law. Mr. Salazar, a former state attorney general, ought to know that better than most.

The White House will also insist that none of this matters because it recently lifted its official drilling moratorium. But tell that to the tens of thousands of Gulf oil workers who have suffered from the moratorium and safety regulations that the federal courts have now found were illegal from the start. Those workers continue to live in uncertainty, as Interior slow-rolls new drilling permits, inspections and certifications. The White House ought to apologize for its illegalities by making a commitment to getting the Gulf up and drilling again.

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Permalink Reply by drilltheshale on October 25, 2010 at 8:04

I guess Salazar would say he didn't blow up the rig, spill the oil, and kill eleven people, and fortunately or unfortunately has reponsibility for more than jobs lost. It's a heavy responsibility, don't we know?

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