Free Republic

A report prepared for President Obama by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and others regarding suggested handling of the BP (NYSE: BP) and Transocean (NYSE: RIG) gulf tragedy may have a spurious heritage. According to Salazar, the report, which included suggestions for 22 safety measures, along with a recommended six-month moratorium on drilling in gulf waters deeper than 500 feet, had been "peer reviewed" by a panel of seven experts. But a majority of the panel members, along with others who worked on the report, have had their feathers ruffled. It seems that they had agreed on an earlier version of...

Mr. Charlie has seen the up and downs over the years in the oil patch off Louisiana's coast, but this could be the toughest slump of all. Earlier this week, the steel rig stationed on the Atchafalaya River graduated what could be one of its last classes of workers prepping for the rigors of offshore life. President Barack Obama's six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf has sent shudders across the coast's offshore oil industry — where no one knows just how extensive or long-lasting the damage to jobs may be.