[StBernard] "Arbitrary and Capricious"

[Westley Annis]

Dear Friends -

Earlier this week, we filed a brief in support of a lawsuit challenging
President Obama's drilling moratorium - which puts tens of thousands of jobs
at risk - and yesterday we received the welcome news of an immediate
injunction lifting the ban. As the Baton Rouge Advocate
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c040%7c9390&digest
=tMSuCqdArYQ2FVVcwaoiNA> reported, we absolutely do not want another spill
or one more drop of oil on our coast, but thousands of Louisianians
shouldn't lose their jobs because the federal government can't do their job
of ensuring drilling is done safely.  

The court said the President's decision to suspend drilling for six months
or longer was "arbitrary and capricious" and we absolutely agree. That's why
I immediately called on the Obama Administration to not appeal the court's
ruling. As WWL
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c041%7c9390&digest
=9Db9gNndAi9htnet2N67oQ>  radio reported, we asked the Obama Administration
to listen to their scientific experts who advised the U.S. Department of
Interior and say a moratorium was not necessary to improve safety in the
Gulf.  Those experts recognize that there is an entire federal agency
dedicated to monitoring safe drilling and it shouldn't take six months or
longer to ensure safety measures are in place and regulations are followed.


The moratorium has created uncertainty in our economy and based on reports
about appeals from the Obama Administration, this process isn't over yet.
The Washington Post
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c042%7c9390&digest
=U9104Q%2b3gwsTJpVa%2f5daHw>  reported that the "oil companies said they
would not restart costly, long-term deep-water drilling projects while the
legal wrangling" continues, and that's what we've been saying all along.
You can't just turn a switch on and off with these oil rigs and the longer
their future remains in question the more likely they are to move their
operations to another part of the world which means they aren't coming back
and neither are the jobs that support them.

Perhaps most frustrating of all is the clear lack of urgency the federal
government has demonstrated to bringing the moratorium to an end.  Their own
commission charged with studying deepwater drilling will not even hold their
first meeting until next month and they don't expect to finish their report
until next year! As the McClatchy Newspapers
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c043%7c9390&digest
=B17jjAu4bFzatZtDVfpcng>  reported, we estimate the state could lose 20,000
existing and potential new jobs if the panel takes longer than six months
and with these jobs in jeopardy we cannot wait for more studies.  If you
have not already done so, please visit www.GEST.LA.gov
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c044%7c9390&digest
=qpc4r0AKBtaxnU7BGCT8mw> to sign the Gulf Economic Survival Team's petition
against the President's six-month drilling moratorium.

Finally, today I am landing on the sand-berms we started to build at the
Chandeleur Islands to block the oil from hitting our coast. However, the
federal government has shut down our dredging operations there while we wait
to move to another sand site. We've said we absolutely want to continue
dredging from the current spot while we work to make a seamless transition
to the next site and have committed to refilling the original site within
weeks. Instead of meeting this request, the federal government is putting
red tape over the protection of our coast and stopping dredging. We are
calling on the federal government today to immediately restart dredging
because we absolutely cannot afford another day. 

I've said from the very beginning that this is a marathon and that Louisiana
will win the war against the oil that threatens our Louisiana Way of Life.
Just as it will take the spirit and ingenuity of our people to overcome the
environmental catastrophe so too will it take our determination to defeat
the economic calamity posed by the federal government's misguided drilling
moratorium. Together we will see this through and win this war to protect
our way of life. 

Sincerely,

Governor Bobby Jindal