Sean J. Miller
The Hill
8/29/2010
NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) on Sunday blasted President Obama’s failure to revisit his ban on offshore oil drilling.
“We don’t think the fact that they’re not doing their jobs in D.C. should cost thousands of Louisianans our jobs,” Jindal told reporters shortly after the president spoke at Xavier University in New Orleans.
Obama’s speech on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina addressed the rebuilding of New Orleans and his commitment to clean up the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but did not mention his administration’s decision to halt deepwater offshore exploration until Nov. 30.
The White House is reportedly considering an early end to the ban, but Jindal wants to see a “greater sense of urgency” from the president. “The experts all agree, we can end this moratorium before six months,” he said. “Let’s put our people back to work.”
Jindal said he was going to meet on Monday with former Florida Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), who co-chairs the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Commission, to make that point. The first-term governor said he’s fine with increased inspections of the rigs off Louisiana’s coast, but that “what we’re saying is, a one-size-fits-all moratorium doesn’t make sense.”
The article continues at The Hill.
