Regulatory barriers and legal uncertainties keep deepwater operators on hold.
On June 22nd Judge Martin Feldman struck down the moratorium on American deepwater drilling. Yet not one of the 33 affected rigs has returned to work, nor are any set to return in the next few weeks.
The federal government’s much-maligned response towards the Gulf oil crisis has been correctly attributed to red-tape and bureaucracy. But we should not overlook the recent evidence indicating that President Obama’s political posturing and constituent-pleasing are making matters worse. The concern is that President Obama has been complying with the wishes of two large factions of his constituency, the environmentalists and labor unions, in formulating his response, rather than listening to experts, empirical data, and common sense. As a result, invaluable and irreplaceable time and resources have been sacrificed.
Angele Davis was a guest at Reason Weekend in New Orleans, where she sat down with Reason’s Len Gilroy to talk about her efforts to streamline the Louisiana state government.
To watch the interview, click here.
“We are focused on creative and sustainable solutions that will basically look for opportunities to realign our government’s size,” says Davis, Commissioner of Administration for the state of Louisiana.
The citizens and businesses of the Gulf Coast were handed a welcome – and absolutely essential – victory today when U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman issued an injunction blocking President Obama’s six-month moratorium on all offshore drilling projects in more than 500 feet of water.
Lately, “draconian” appears to be the mot juste for Governor Jindal’s widely-contested budget cuts. In his weekly Gambit column, for example, Clancy Dubos writes, “Consider, for example, the governor’s draconian cuts to higher education…,” and then lists a litany of budget cuts to academic and cultural programs. Dubos goes on to impugn Jindal as “one of the biggest destroyers of all,” alongside BP.
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