Lawmakers Weigh In On Ruling To Block Drilling Moratorium

23rd Jun 2010 16:49

By Tennille Tracy Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. lawmakers are weighing in on the U.S. Interior Department's efforts to suspend deepwater drilling in the U.S. after a district court decided to block a six-month moratorium imposed by the administration earlier this year. In a hearing held by a panel of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D, Calif.) said she supported the administration's plans to challenge the court ruling and to re-impose its drilling moratorium. Feinstein said drilling would resume at 33 wells in the Gulf of Mexico, if the moratorium were lifted. "This, to me, is deeply troubling," said Feinstein, who chairs the subcommittee that oversees appropriations for the Interior Department. The ranking Republican on the subcommittee, however, voiced support for the court's decision. Sen. Lamar Alexander, from Tennessee, called the moratorium "heavy handed and over-bearing." Echoing arguments made by the judge who overturned the moratorium, Alexander said it didn't make sense to block all drilling projects just because one project failed. The lawmakers voiced their opinions after a U.S. District Court in New Orleans overturned a six-month moratorium, ruling in favor of a group of oilfield-services companies that filed the lawsuit. The court said the companies might be able to show that the administration acted arbitrarily and capriciously when issuing the moratorium. Following the ruling, the administration quickly announced it would appeal the ruling. -By Tennille Tracy, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6619; [email protected] (Brian Baskin contributed to this article.) (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 23, 2010 11:49 ET (15:49 GMT)