Thursday, June 3, 2010 11:30 AM
Vitter Wants Moratorium Scrapped
By Amy Harder, NationalJournal.com
Instead of an immediate moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said today he wants rig safety inspections conducted right away. And operations should only be shut down if those inspections "identified safety problems," Vitter added.
He made his statement in a letter to President Obama today, just as the White House announced that Obama will travel to the gulf Friday. It comes days after the administration announced a six-month moratorium on all deepwater drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico, delayed a planned drilling operation for the Arctic Ocean and canceled plans to drill off Virginia's coast.
Vitter argued that the gulf drilling moratorium will shed between 3,000 and 4,000 Louisiana jobs in the short-term and possibly up to 20,000 over the course of a year. "This deepwater moratorium could potentially be devastating for Louisiana," Vitter wrote. "The likely impact of this moratorium is long-term job destruction as these jobs leave the gulf region permanently and move to other regions of the world."
Advertisement
Advertisement
Columnists
Energy Experts Blog
Our panel of insiders discusses key issues
- Boom and Bust: Renewable Energy's Future?
- The Nexus Between Biofuels, Energy, and Agriculture
- What More Can Be Done to Ensure Safe Offshore Drilling?
Resources
Guide to researching the energy & climate change debate
- 07/15/10--CBO: Using Biofuel Tax Credits to Achieve Energy and Environmental Policy Goals | related story
- 07/07/10--Letter to Energy Secretary Chu to stop moving forward on shuttering the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository site | see related story
- 07/06/10--Proposed EPA emissions "transport rule"
- 06/24/10--Rahall draft plan (PDF) | related story
- 06/10/10--Lugar Proposal
Energy Promise Audit
Tracking Obama's progress on campaign promises
- Increase Number Of Plug-In Hybrid Cars
Updated: August 09, 2010 - End American Dependence On Foreign Oil In Ten Years
Updated: August 09, 2010 - Double Fuel Economy Standards
Updated: May 24, 2010
Copenhagen Insider
Visit Copenhagen Insider for National Journal's coverage of the recent U.N. summit including reporting from Darren Goode and analysis from stakeholders in the climate change discussion.
