'Arbitrary and Capricious' Ban Lifted on Deepwater Drilling

New Orleans United States District Court judge Martin Feldman issued an injunction today lifting the reactionary six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed by Obama a few weeks ago in response to the BP oil spill. Feldman stated that he could see no reasonable rationale for Obama's ban on drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet "to give a presidential commission time to study improvements in the safety of offshore operations."  The injunction is effective immediately and prohibits the government from enforcing the ban.

Apparently, the government told Feldman the ban was based on a report following the sinking of the rig, which attempted to link further drilling to "public safety," but Feldman stated that he could find no rational relationship between the findings and the scope of the moratorium. “The blanket moratorium, with no parameters, seems to assume that because one rig failed and although no one yet fully knows why, all companies and rigs drilling new wells over 500 feet also universally present an imminent danger.” Feldman cause the public policy "arbitrary and capricious" also also noted that the ban would cause irreparable economic injury in the region as oilfield companies estimated that the ban could cost as many as 20,000 jobs if it lasted 18 months.

Finally, someone called Obama and his cronies out on their BS.  It would've been more fun to hear the judge substitute "arbitrary and capricious" with "horse sh*t," but I'll take what I can get.