The U.S. government will immediately appeal a U.S. judge’s ruling Tuesday against the Obama administration’s six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“The president strongly believes … that continuing to drill at these depths without knowing what happened does not make any sense, and puts the safety of those involved … and the environment in the Gulf at a danger that the president does not believe we can afford right now,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
A U.S. judge Tuesday ruled against the administration’s six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
A lawsuit was filed by Louisiana-based Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC was joined by more than a dozen companies involved in offshore drilling to reverse the drilling ban imposed by the U.S. Department of Interior.
A federal judge in Louisiana granted the drillers’ request for a preliminary restraining order that would prevent the ban from taking effect.
