Obama Administration found in contempt of court over drilling moratorium

Not only is the Obama Administration ignoring a federal judge on its signature health care law, it appears to be defying another court order.

On Thursday, Judge Martin Feldman held the Obama Administration in contempt of court for refusing to obey an order lifting the Gulf drilling moratorium.

According to a report at Bloomberg:

The Obama Administration acted in contempt by continuing its deepwater drilling moratorium after the policy was struck down, a New Orleans judge ruled.

Interior Department regulators acted with “determined disregard” by lifting and reinstituting a series of policy changes that restricted offshore drilling, following the worst offshore oil spillin U.S. history, U.S. District Judge, Martin Feldmanof New Orleans ruled yesterday.

“Each step the government took following the court’s imposition of a preliminary injunction showcases its defiance,” Feldman said in the ruling.

“Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the re- imposition of a second blanket and substantively identical moratorium, and in light of the national importance of this case, provide this court with clear and convincing evidence of the government’s contempt,” Feldman said.

After the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sank, the administration placed a moratorium on drilling in any water deeper than 500 feet.

Feldman overturned that moratorium calling it “overly broad”.  Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar issued a second ban, but rescinded it after a lawsuit claimed the local economy would suffer.

After nine months, no permits have been issued, causing economic hardships in the region.

Jim Adams, President of the Offshore Marine Service Association said that because of the de facto ban “…thousands of workers are out of jobs, Americans are paying more for gasoline and heating oil, and our nation is becoming even more dependent on unstable nations for our energy needs.”

In late December, John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil, warned that gas could hit $5.00 per gallon by 2012.  During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Barack Obama said that under his cap and trade plan, energy costs would skyrocket.

The Heritage Foundation notes that President Obama instituted what amounts to a seven-year ban on drilling in some areas of the Outer Continental Shelf.

In short, gas prices are going up while the Administration purposefully ignores court orders.

Shortly after the November election, a report from the progressive Center of American Progress issued a report saying the President had wide powers to enact his agenda, including use of the military and executive orders:

The U.S. Constitution and the laws of our nation grant the president significant authority to make and implement policy. These authorities can be used to ensure positive progress on many of the key issues facing the country through:

• Executive orders
• Rulemaking
• Agency management
• Convening and creating public-private partnerships
• Commanding the armed forces
• Diplomacy

Apparently, the President has decided he can also ignore federal courts if it will help his agenda.

-----------------------------------------------------------

If you like this article, you can follow Joe on Twitter @jnewby1956, visit his Facebookpage, or click the Subscribe button to receive email updates when a new article is published.