Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, today released the following statement regarding a federal judge’s decision to strike down the Obama Administration’s six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico:
“In his decision, Judge Feldman referred to the Administration’s moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf as a ‘blanket moratorium’ with ‘no parameters’. It is precisely this—the widespread scope of the moratorium—that most concerns us. While it is imperative that we determine the root cause of the oil spill and ensure appropriate oversight and safety measures are in place, effectively shutting down offshore production in the Gulf region is already having a crippling effect on the local economy which could potentially ripple across the entire economy. We hope that this decision will serve as a lesson that rash decisions in response to the spill should be avoided.”