Offshore drilling moratorium: good for the Gulf, bad for the economy?
The federal government enacted a six-month moratorium on offshore drilling in deep waters in the wake of the Gulf oil spill. Depending on who you ask, it is either an environmental necessity or an economic disaster.
Oil workers protest the drilling ban in Houma, La. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says the moratorium could kill thousands of state jobs.
Gregory Bull/AP/File
More than three months after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill began, Gulf Coast states and the oil industry are still howling over what they say is unnecessary economic harm from the Obama administration's six-month moratorium on deep-water offshore drilling.
Congressional opponents argue it "is causing a second economic crisis in the Gulf" and that "thousands of jobs have already been lost and thousands of additional jobs are at risk of being sent overseas." The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee heard testimony Tuesday predicting losses of $2.8 billion and over 10,000 jobs from a moratorium.
But new deep-water drilling would still be dangerous and irresponsible, the administration says. Not enough is known about what caused the spill and several panels are investigating.
IN PICTURES: Destructive Oil Spills
Amid a whirlwind of charges, countercharges, and legal hardball, numerous questions linger. Among them:
Is a drilling moratorium now in effect? Where?
Yes. On May 28, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a "six-month suspension of all pending, current, or approved offshore drilling operations of new deep-water wells – those more than 500 feet deep – in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific regions." That first nationwide moratorium was, on July 12, superseded by a second order (see following question) that blocks offshore deep-water drilling in the same areas. That second order remains in force until Nov. 30 – unless it is successfully challenged in court or until Mr. Salazar lifts it. The moratorium has halted drilling at 33 deep-water sites in the Gulf of Mexico.
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