Did Salazar mislead the public on drilling?

June 9, 2010, 2:19 pm

By David Harsanyi | 

After the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Obama Administration instituted a moratorium on all drilling that could have cost Louisiana as many as 20,000 jobs ^[1] over 12 months to 18 months.
The move smelled of politics then, and now there is more proof that it may have been just that ^[1].

Members of a panel of experts brought in to advise the Obama administration on how to address offshore drilling safety after the Deepwater Horizon disaster now say Interior Secretary Ken Salazar falsely implied they supported a six-month drilling moratorium they actually oppose.
Salazar’s May 27 report to President Barack Obama said a panel of seven experts “peer reviewed” his recommendations, which included a six-month moratorium on all ongoing drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet. That prohibition took effect a few days later, but the angry panel members and some others who contributed to the Salazar report said they had reviewed only an earlier version of the secretary’s report that suggested a six-month moratorium only on new drilling, and then only in waters deeper than 1,000 feet.

Keeping his boot on the neck of … something ^[2].