Jindal steps up battle against Obama’s 6-month deepwater drilling moratorium

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) has spent weeks throwing political
punches at the Obama administration’s six-month freeze on deepwater
oil-and-gas drilling, alleging it will wreak havoc on the region’s
already battered economy.

Now, Jindal is battling the moratorium
in the courtroom, too.

{mosads}Jindal and state Attorney General Buddy
Caldwell on Sunday filed a legal brief in support of a Louisiana-based
offshore services company that’s asking a federal judge to lift the ban.

The ban is “effectively turning an environmental disaster into an economic catastrophe for the state,” the brief alleges.

The ban is in place while the administration and a White House-created independent commission review drilling safety in the wake of the BP oil spill.

Jindal’s brief — filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana — alleges the Interior Department “completely ignored” the effect the ban will have on Louisiana’s economy.

Offshore oil-and-gas is a $3 billion annual industry in the state, the brief claims, noting the salaries of rig workers, the scores of companies that have boat, food and other types of contracts, and many other ways the state’s economy is tethered to drilling.

The brief claims that once deepwater rigs move out of the Gulf, they will become tied up as companies make long-term commitments for projects in Brazil, Africa and elsewhere.

“Having to wait an additional year or more for available rigs will turn the short-term adverse effects of the moratorium into a long-term economic disaster for Louisiana,” their filing states.

The brief supports a lawsuit filed earlier this month by Hornbeck Offshore Services, which alleges the ban violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

Jindal is raising his own claims, too. The brief cites language in the offshore statute that calls for federal officials to work with states in making decisions about development policy in federal waters.

“Inasmuch as the State of Louisiana was completely ignored by Defendants in the establishment of the moratorium for alleged safety reasons, the question arises whether that failure renders Defendants’ action invalid,” the brief states.