Crude Politics - WSJ.com

Hmmm... HT: Ken

Crude Politics - WSJ.com: "When President Obama last month announced his six-month deepwater moratorium, he pointed to an Interior Department report of new 'safety' recommendations. That report prominently noted that the recommendations it contained—including the six-month drilling ban—had been 'peer-reviewed' by 'experts identified by the National Academy of Engineering.' It also boasted that Interior 'consulted with a wide range' of other experts. The clear implication was that the nation's drilling brain trust agreed a moratorium was necessary.

As these columns reported last week, the opposite is true. In a scathing document, eight of the 'experts' the Administration listed in its report said their names had been 'used' to 'justify' a 'political decision.' The draft they reviewed had not included a six-month drilling moratorium. The Administration added that provision only after it had secured sign-off. In their document, the eight forcefully rejected a moratorium, which they argued could prove more economically devastating than the oil spill itself and 'counterproductive' to 'safety.'"