Texas: Attorney General Sues Over Drilling Moratorium
The Texas attorney general sued the Obama administration on Wednesday over its new deepwater offshore drilling moratorium, claiming that it is unjustified and that federal officials did not contact the state before issuing the ban. Attorney General Greg Abbott filed the suit in federal court in Houston against Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. The ban halted the approval of any new permits for deepwater projects and shut down drilling at 33 exploratory ocean wells in the wake of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. An Interior Department spokeswoman defended the ban but declined to comment on the Texas lawsuit.