Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the White House intends to immediately appeal a federal judge’s ruling against a moratorium on new deepwater drilling.
A New Orleans judge on Tuesday blocked the six-month ban imposed in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, saying the Interior Department had failed to provide adequate reasons for it.
Gibbs defended the moratorium, promising an immediate appeal to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Gibbs said President Barack Obama believes that until investigations can determine why the spill happened, continued deepwater drilling potentially exposes workers and the environment to “a danger that the president does not believe we can afford.”