New Drilling Moratorium Issued

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued today a second deepwater drilling moratorium, based on new evidence about drilling safety following a recent court decision that found the administration’s original ban to be “capricious and arbitrary.”

The moratorium comes as the massive BP oil spill has been gushing thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico daily for more than 80 days.

According to an Interior Department press release, the moratorium, or “suspensions,” will last until Nov. 30,2010, “or until such earlier time that the Secretary determines that deep water drilling operations can proceed safely.[more]