‘Thousands of Louisianans are going to be out of work because the president wanted a get-tough headline’
By: David Freddoso Online Opinion Editor 06/10/10 10:24 AM EDT
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar lied in order to give political cover for Obama administration’s arbitrary six-month moratorium on deep-water oil drilling. The Wall Street Journal breaks the news on its editorial page:
In the wake of the oil spill, President Obama asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to produce a report on new drilling safety recommendations. Then on May 27 Mr. Obama announced a six-month deep water drilling ban, justifying it on the basis of Mr. Salazar’s report, a top recommendation of which was the moratorium. To lend an air of technical authority, the report noted: “The recommendations contained in this report have been peer-reviewed by seven experts identified by the National Academy of Engineering.”
That would be false, sir. In a scathing statement this week, the seven experts explained that the report draft they had reviewed did not include a six-month drilling moratorium. That was added only after they signed off. “The Secretary should be free to recommend whatever he thinks is correct, but he should not be free to use our names to justify his political decisions,” wrote the seven in a letter to Gulf Coast politicians.
Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-La., speaks the truth when he notes that “thousands of Louisianans are going to be out of work because the president wanted a get-tough headline.”
Just imagine living on the Gulf Coast: Your environment is ruined by British Petroleum, and then your job is taken away by a panicked, politically driven Obama Administration far more interested in covering its own rear than in kicking anyone else’s.
bttt