Obama Administration Found in Contempt of Court for Gulf Oil Drilling Ban

The Obama administration has been found in contempt of court for continuing the Gulf oil drilling moratorium months after a federal judge struck it down. Judge Martin Feldman of New Orleans is signaling that he really meant it.

The moratorium was originally imposed as a result of the BP oil leak disaster.

According to Bloomberg:

"Feldman overturned the initial ban as overly broad on June 22, after the offshore-drilling industry and Gulf Coast political and business leaders challenged it. U.S. Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar said later that day that he would 'issue a new order in the coming days that eliminates any doubt that a moratorium is needed, appropriate, and within our authorities.'

"In July, Salazar instituted a second drilling moratorium that was also challenged by an industry lawsuit claiming the ban was harming the Gulf Coast economy, which is heavily dependent on deepwater drilling activities. That ban was rescinded in October, before Feldman could rule on its validity.

"Feldman later ruled that enhanced drilling safety rules Salazar imposed to permit companies to resume offshore exploration violated federal law, and he struck down those as well. Opponents of those rules complained to Feldman that regulators were continuing to block the resumption of drilling after Feldman's rulings."

Judge Feldman was quite direct in his ruling, He said that the Interior Department acted with "determined disregard" of his ruling by lifting the original moratorium and then imposing a new one.

"Each step the government took following the court's imposition of a preliminary injunction showcases its defiance...Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the re-imposition of a second blanket and substantively identical moratorium, and in light of the national importance of this case, provide this court with clear and convincing evidence of the government's contempt"

The problem is that not a single deepwater drilling permit has been issued in the nine months since the BP oil leak disaster. That suggests, as Judge Feldman says in his ruling, that the Obama Interior Department thinks it can ignore a federal judge.

If the Obama administration continues to defy Feldman and persist in declining to issue drilling permits, what judicial remedies besides the order to pay legal fees are there? Generally, when public officials misbehave in this fashion, they sooner or later are impeached.

The impeachment of President Obama is not within the realm of possibility. For that to happen, there have to be enough congressional Democrats who do not have as much contempt for the law and the Constitution as they do for the voters. Republicans may not have sufficient courage either. The last time a president was impeached for malfeasance in a court case, it did not turn out all that well politically for congressional Republicans.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, on the other hand, may become the fall guy if the heat gets too much. As gas prices rise and as the oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico continues to go into a death spiral, Salazar may become the man overboard in this case.

That is, unless Salazar obeys the judge and starts issuing drilling permits. But by doing that, he may have to disobey his President. That is a serious conundrum for a public servant to be in. Follow the law or follow his boss. One would not want to be in his position right about now.

Source: U.S. Adminstration In Contempt Over Gulf Drilling Moratorium, Judge Rules, Laurel Brubaker Calkins, Bloomberg, February 3rd, 2011