Only perception matters. Drill, baby , drill was killed by the incident—regardless of the truth.
Tell that to anyone who has pumped their own gas in the last week.
We have more rigs drilling than ever before in North Dakota, and we're only part of the domestic energy picture.
Wherever the Federal Government holds the leases, they can control, but on private concerns they can do little to stop the continued exploration, exploration which accounts for the <2% unemployment in areas like Western North Dakota, and which accounts for tremendous economic activity wherever it is conducted.
Drilling in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico may be tremendously slowed, but we're doing our best to take up the slack elsewhere.