Weblogic

Absolutely, unequivocally NO. The president doesnt even have the RIGHT to take that action. It is a matter for the courts.

If you have a car wreck, do you quit driving? nope. Just another 'emergency' that BHO can use to impose his will over private enterprise. Why won't he allow the other countries that are wanting to help to do so by putting a moratorium on certain rules/regulations?

Look up the spill of 1979 off the coast of Mexico. It was deemed worse than this, and now 30 years later, it's as if it never happened.

BP/Deepwater made mistakes. Action should not be taken against others that have not.

If there is information, learned from this incident, that should be applied to drilling requirements, then revision of the requirements is logical and legitimate.

Blanket halts based upon political 'judgment' are neither.

No moratorium! Just better safety control. Too many people will be affected by what is basically a political statement

Gov't bureaucrats (including Osambo) should get the hell out of the way and let the petro professionals handle the broken well casing problem--The president and his henchmen have shown a scary penchant for messing with USA private industry-- back off and keep your lips from flappin' Osambo--you don't know jack shit about the petro business--except you hate big industry and big profits (except when they are goin' in your personal pockets-)-you're a slimebag thug and a disgrace to the Presidents Office

No - Investigate, but don't stop companies from drilling. Do more inspections. With the economy in the sharp it is lets not impose more hardships on the hard working families in the area. The golf states need that economy. Listen to the goverors of those states and let them have a stay in what needs to be done.

All off shore drilling should not be held responsable for BP mistakes! They should be allowed to drill and our government should do their job of inspecting these sites.

Rigs, and methods they use, should be reviewed for safety and brought bake on line as soon as possible. Owners, workers, wildlife, ecosystem and neighboring states deserve a safe work place. This is not a "car wreck." We don't need another spill so in 30 years we can say "it's as if it never happened."

Keep on drilling!!!

Since there is a catastrophic oil 'leak' which no one knows how to solve, it makes total sense to continue doing what has been done before. There is no reason to stop and analyze and learn from past mistakes. It makes far more sense to just keep drilling because people "need jobs" or need to attack Obama.

I agree with ALL the comments written June 25 except "Temporary". The government has WAY too much power at this time!

This temporary halt applies to just 33 rigs *in the process of drilling*. Not the 3600 already in production in the gulf. Additionally, the logic used by the judge is the same as that used by the Obama administration. We just do not know if there are problems or not in the procedures. Since the impact is minimal, we should err on the side of safety because no one knows the correct status at this point. One additional note, the oil companies pool their resources for disaster recovery. that is why all their recovery plans are cookie cutter cut and paste. That is fine in practice but is another rig blows while drilling, all resources are already tied up with the Horizon spill. Food for thought.

What about the shallow water wells. And what about the on-shore drilling. They haven't opened that up yet either. What about the North Alaska ANWAR (I know that's not spelled corectly)area. Obama is an empty suit who is being played like a fiddle by the Democratic party.

The judge's holdings in Oil companies should have had him recues himself from the hearing. The oil billowing out is destroying massive amounts of the ecosystem. If you had a massive forest fire you stop people from starting other fires until you got a handle on the fire. I guess we are so use to pissing in everyone else's pool that we don't even realize the damage it's causing when it's done in ours. Remove the moratorium after someone proves that the next time they can stop the damage quicker that this quagmire. I guess none of you incredible compassionate genius make a living in the Gulf Coast fishing industry.

Absolutely, unequivocally YES have the moratorium!!! Until we know how to TRULY prevent this kind of disaster we have no business pursuing profit over sustainability.

No - we should move forward - learn from the mistakes - and let business get back to normal - is this ok or we will all be removed like General McChrystal - where is this country heading? It's getting scarier by the day with that man in office -- I have always taught my children if you don't respect the person at least respect the position but he is making it harder and harder to teach that lesson - he has abused the position and before its over we will all suffer I am afraid

Thank goodness for the existence of judges with common sense and the bravery to reign in the incompetent wimps in the white house. I agree with all of the above comments. Everything Obama does it seems is politically motivated to the detriment of the citizens of this country. The failure rate of deep water drilling is less than one tenth of one percent. It is not prudent or wise to throw out an entire industry that has been operating over the years with such a great track record. Positive corrective action regarding the experienced defect is all that is needed.

"If the well is to deep to cap then it's to deep to drill". I'm not sure which Senator made this statement but, I agree with him.

The Department of Energy is one of the largest Governmental agencies, what have they been doing for the last 20 years?? If they are behind the times in regulatory development and enforcement, they need to get off their duffs and get cracking! We shouldn't penalize the entire industry for the seemingly reckless acts of BP Management. If anything the president should be asking these questions of his own organization and get his house in order before implementing a moratorium!. If they (DOE and other agencies) are not doing their job to regulate these big oil cowboys, the answer is not to stop the world and let DOE catch up!Fire a few of them and get some movers and shakers to take their place.

Of course the moratorium should stand. The arguments against it are based on misinformation and idiocy! Firstly, the moritorium only affects those operations that are exploratory in nature. Drilling and production are two different things. The idea that there is any such thing as a domestic oil market is also based on ignorance. The idea that there are more assets to be deployed in case of another leak is also based on ignorance. For those who believe the president does not have the right to impose a band, you should look up "National Security". The spill in the Gulf is a national disaster, and one that imposes significant problems for our national security via economic impact. As it stands the moritorium will affect 33 rigs. That out of approximately 36,000. What will happen to those drilling towns if another spill occurs? Florida? Louisianna? Mississippi? Texas?. Remember, all of the oil companies have a concurrent plan using the same assets for any disaster. Translation, all assets have already been deployed in the current spill.
Again, the american public astounds me with their ability to have empassioned positions without knowing Jack!

BP had 760 safety violations according to the MMS from the past, BP should have been shut down a long time ago until they learned from their mistakes. These foreign companies come in and do what ever they want, and now look who is paying for their big mistake. MMS should have stepped in a long time ago. The oil companies must be paying the MMS under the table so they will look the other way. Just another pile of political bullshit!!

I absolutely agree with the Judge. This disaster would have been resolved (if it had occurred at all) already if the companies that do the drilling had not been pushed so far off shore. Had they been allowed to drill in more shallow water, or on land. Yes they have the technology, however you can not predict nor control what the variables of being in water that deep can cause. Robots will never replace the human brain or human hands. Trained divers could have been doing inspections and repairs to prevent all of this mishap. President Obama needs to step back and allow the companies to work independely from his office! Gov't bureaucrats need to step out of this equation. BP has enough issues at this point without being ridden like a dead horse.

Man is killing off nature and its wildlife. Use the wind and the sun. You have no clue as to what has happened. No clue to what really is going on. We are not leaving a beautiful planet for our grandchildren and their children. God doesn't sleep. Obama has the right idea. The needed one.

I think the objectors yelling so loudly have missed a major point. Obviously the oil companies CAN'T fix things when they go wrong but politicans CAN'T either; they're all in bed together and pointing fingers at each other. If the moritorium were to stay in place UNTIL the time that each oil drilling company developed a WORKING PLAN for catastrophy, then they surely WOULD, and at much less expense than it is costing everyone now. Folks are not getting that once our wetlands' ecology is destroyed with THIS oil spill, the long-term results will have greater economic impact than any moritorium. Since we KNOW that one major one can happen any day.....what will it look like with another? Where the politicians are MISSING it all is that we have a perfect opportunity for learning and changing things NOW. We did not do so after Valdese....oabiously....and just forgot about that since it was out-of-sight. MAKE the oil companines develop workable clean-up plans BEFORE the moritorium is lifted and not a day sooner. Should have been the same way with the banks, the car industry and ALL other private industries that go belly-up from poor management and greed and then come to the taxpayers for bail-outs. SOMEONE has to say "HALT" and "GET SOME COMMON SENSE" about this mess! Who better than the President? Afterall, he IS suppose to look after the welfare of our entire country. I personally don't like him and his whinning, firing ways BUT this IS his job: protect ourselves FROM ourselves. Gonna be something out of a horror movie if this tropical storm gets to churning this mess and spreading it even further! I guess the protestors don't EVER want to go fishing again, see beautiful beaches, walk in the sand, gaze upon Egrits and I guess they don't even care whether their children or grandchildren do either. Looking after the 'good of the whole' doesn't seem to matter when precious oil is concerned and US citizens might have to THINK-BEFORE-THEY-CONSUME! And the COURTS system is just as big a joke. Who DO THEY think they are and where are the checks-and-balances on them? They are running rampant and just as crooked as the politicians...OH....yeah...they ARE politicians, too!
This is ONE judgement call I applaud Obama for. There have been FEW! Don't get me started on McCrystal firing!! Where DID freedom of speech go?????

Absolutely not! President Obama has no right to stop oil drilling!

This is a tough one. A lot of knee jerk reactions. Serious environmental issues. Politics. Conflicts of interest. Irresponsible corporations. Inadequate governmental regulations, inspections, and enforcement. Corruption. Greed.
One needs to be omniscient.

Regardless of what the president does or does not have the right to do, a temporary moratorium on any drilling is a prudent thing. Procedures and equipment need to be analyzed and regulations need to revised such that never happens again. In hindsight of this catastrophe, allowing any drilling to go on without updated precautions would be GROSSLY NEGLIGENT on anybodies part. Despite this countries overdependence on oil and the stagnation in technology to replace oil, we only have ONE EARTH and she needs to come first, because there is no backup location once we kill that.

To Dena - Who do you place your faith in...The man in the White House or The Man Above? You have been terribly brainwashed by the right-wing to live your life in fear until you're not even making any sense our trusting your own ability to raise your own children. Stop concerning yourself with these day to day politics and live your life. It will be over before you know it.

Peace and Blessing!

...and YES...IF you can't drive responsibly.....then you DO quit driving! And what makes ANYONE think that inspections and oversights will get any better or do anything differently than how we got here? "doing the same thing over and over expecting different results" by difintion is insanity and that is clearly where this country seems to be stuck. More inspections?, more oversight?....yea! let's create yet another government agency to do nothing,draw big salaries and then blame poor/no results on the "other" party. And the birds keep dying and the fish keep turning belly-up....while someone out there fiddles away. Does ANYONE recall ROME?

To compare things objectively they should be measured in numbers. Select measurement criteria and do the calculations: compare the overall damage from the possible additional spills in the same region with the damage caused by the drilling ban. The result will reveal ether the gross incompetence or criminal hidden motives behind this ban.

For years we have dodged the bullet. We finally got hit. Six months is not a long time. Two have already passed. Lets take this time to increase the safety regulations.

Until it can be demonstrated the this kind of tragedy can never occur again, exploration and drilling at these obviously dangerous depths should be curtailed. The President is right on this one, We need to put more of our resources into finding new and better sources of energy!

What do we stand to lose from the moratorium? Money, and what else? What have we already lost as a result of unsafe drilling, in terms of wildlife, ecology, and the quality of life for everyone in the gulf states?

How long will it take to replace the money lost from the six month moratorium? What has been lost already from this spill can never be replaced. Those who are against this moratorium seem to be the ones who are putting politics over the things that really matter.

It's amazing that they seem to be more upset over what Obama is doing, than what this ecological disaster is doing. Time for a reality check on the values systems folks!

We are intimately and totally supported by Earth's life support system. For our convenience and hubris, we have exploited Earth's limited resources. Our big profit-driven corporations are prime aggressors...(some say criminals), and they have been in our service.

A moratorium, however it may interfere with livelihood of ancillary businesses, the profits of mega corporations, and the convenience of unconscious consumers, is valuable, allowing some time to reflect of the downside of massive oil consumption. It is a great opportunity to wake up to using accelerate development of alternative sources of energy.

It is ignorant and naive to believe that the spill is a small local incident.
The spill is far reaching in it's impact on Earth's life support systems. It is not just the coastal ecosystems, and the ocean depths. It is anticipated that the next hurricane to come to the Gulf of Mexico will whip up that grimy goo and suck it into the air, so that we will be breathing, eating and drinking crude oil, beginning in the South, eventually worldwide.

In the larger picture, this is one more incident in our inexorable path to self destruction of the human species.

Suck it in. Soon you may be able to ignite your drinking water.

Ok, I get it,,,,was BP carless...Probably...find out which one of the congress people took bribe money...I find it odd, however, the liberals want to stop oil drilling,, but god forbid they give up their private planes. How much gas does Air Force one suck down when the Obamanator goes to do a photo op....How about Pelosis private 737...do you suppose that gets really good milage....

A moratorium???? Drilling should stop completely. Oil spills are common and continuous in all drilling whether it is on land or in water. The disaster that is happening in the Gulf will never end and should provide a wake-up call to stop all drilling immediately - forever.

First, BP is a foreign company. Many nations drill in the Gulf. Secondly, the Obama Adminstration hovered over BP like a mother hen with piles of regs to back them up. Obama's people had NO CLUE
what they were doing. They were about to give BP an award for safety within two weeks of the explosion. That was put on hold. We sill do not know if it was eco-terrorists or not. What we do know is that Obama did NOTHING for almost two months, hoping this would help his playbook. He REFUSED
help starting day three from 21 nations. Obama, not BO, should have been on the hot seat. What he did was reckless endangerment, and he should have been impeached were it not for a slave Congress that worships the guy.

Drilling is very safe. Wackos like Stephen don't have a clue what the value of oil is, and need to understand that oil companies know best where and how to drill. They were pushed way out by the environmental wackos. Anwar and closer in drilling would never have had the risk. It is the case of the lunatics running the asylum.

We have to get did of these worthless eggheads who could not run a lemonade stand and let people who know do what they do best. Government has proven it is inept. And you want them to run healthcare? God help us!

The President should not ban offshore oil well drilling just because one oil company is 200 times more negligent than any other oil company. He should require safety measures, in case of catastrophe, especially to BP, who, if they don't go bankrupt, should be placed on probation/moratorium. The others don't seem to need it, except maybe Exxon. If the citizens of Louisiana want to have offshore oil drilling, let them have it. Just don't bring offshore oil well drilling anywhere near Jersey. Go Green!

Come on now. We know exactly why the oil rig blew. It has been well publicized. Even the companies involved don't deny it, as they point their fingers at each other. And, it was NOT "eco-terrorists"; talk about buying into the hysteria.
Would a rational be response to something like this be more of the same, and do nothing different?

If you have a car accident that everyone understands the cause of, yes, it's easy to keep driving. If it's a big mystery, like the Toyota sudden acceleration, then the prudent thing to do is to bring a lot of heavy resources to bear on understanding what went wrong. In particular, with the BP case, there is plenty of evidence that plenty of deliberate shortcuts were taken, by both BP and the US govt. As for jobs, the spill has cost many thousands of fishing jobs, and this may continue for many years. So, it seems prudent to hold up drilling on the 33 wells until we can get a better inspection program in place. Also note that BP was not "forced into deeper water by the govt" as someone else claims; they chose to go into deeper water because that's where the oil is, and divers can not operate below 300 feet; it's all done by machines.

no.because it could develope devastation on wildlife and human health problems.i think that the government should stay out of it.

I would go one step further and have a moratorium on all new drilling. The time has come to look at alternate energy sources, regardless of the short term effects on oil. It's appearing more and more as though big oil (and insurance) are making sure with their gigantic clout that they will remain in control of the American economy for the next decades, with a polluted and fouled landscape and a profoundly stupid energy policy a permanant part of life.

After an airplane crash and all 250 people are killed - Do we cease all air traffic? And NO, you do not always know the reason for a disaster. People are already suffering from this oil spill and will continue suffering more. Safety regulations enforced - YES and not deepwater drilling [like 5000 feet down], but NOT a moratorium on shallow wells and land. Drill, drill, drill. People are waiting to get back to work on these drilling rigs but Obama wants to extend the hardships even more. Let people get back to work as soon as possible. We need the oil - they need their jobs. I do agree with Obama's decision on Gen. McChrystal but on NOTHING else that he has shoved down our throats with his pitiful arrogance and lack of transparency. I am looking forward to 2012 when he will be out of sight. However, he won't be out of mind with the debts he is incurring for us, our children and our grand-children. I am also looking forward to Nov 2010 to get rid of a majority of this pathetic congress.

Until regulations are put into place, I think it is necessary to stop drilling at this time.

Certainly not. We should use the natural resources we have here in America. We should drill our own oil wells here in USA, and take full advantage of all resources we have here, and not be dependent on other countries. This country is blessed with all we need, and enough to spare, if we use our God given talents to use them and take care of this great country that god has provided for our use and stewardship. We can do it, and do it wisely, and use all the American know-how, inventiveness, and knowledge that we have and that God has blessed us with, and will bless us with, if we will do the right things.

Thanks to all the folks that stuck to the issue with thoughtful comments, to those that brought in their irrelevant political biases, please try an think about what has really happened and what is the best approach. The many people that have jobs on hold in the oil business are a drop in the bucket compared to all those that live and depend on the gulf region's natural resources whose jobs are related to food, recreation, vacation,etc. Thirty years or more for this to return to normal is long time in that respect and what is the likely hood that it will not occur again. A moratorium seems a reasonable way to start until we get some real answers.

No on the moratorium, but better precautions, and why are we not drilling closer to shore, so that if this should happen again, it would be easier to repair. Why is the president involved in private business, why are we allowing this? Give him his walking papers, and let him know, it has been an interesting experience, but we'll take it from here.

To those concerned about mother earth, the enviroment, ect. yes, those should be considered, but within the realm of common sense; God put all the natural resources here for our use, so he expects us to use them, and to not do so would be foolish; yes, common sense should be used, as with all things, but to completely allow our resources to just lie there and waste, while we protect them is ridiculeous! It seems everything on the planet is protected except for the most important natural resource---humans!

All ready delicate sea life are killed and our Florida Reefs that have been there centuries for us to enjoy and if the oil gets there the distruction will mean for our children and their children's children. BP should be doing more to skim that oil, they have super tanks to use, other countries have offered to help, but the Ass in control say they can control it alone. Donkey's all...let Florida's treasures be rape and distroyed, none of those people care.

No. Let the existing rigs resume drilling until the laws are changed. If the environmentalists hadn't pressured the government to outlaw drilling in shallow waters,
we probably wouldn't be facing this disaster today. It only makes sense that the risk
would be greater when the rigs are in deeper waters. When is the government going to
start governing in a positive way, instead of caving in to "green" pressures?

When we as a nation come together and pray and decide that we (the nation) isn't going to put up with this any longer. I sit on my porch every morning with my husband and drink coffee, and I talk to God and I look around at all he has given us as humans and all we have done is destroy what he gave us. I will give you an illustration: In Oklahoma the people are destroying the mountains and trees. Rocks have become more important money wise than our atmosphere. Each tree that is destroyed takes that much more oxygen/carbon out of our air. Why, because they are not replanting but making the mountains barren, not to live on but to profit by using rocks to sell. Don't get me wrong, that is a way to earn a living, but, do we really need to destroy and not replace what God gave us. i agree with Cowboy Company, if they had drilled in shallow water, the leak could have been easier took care of and less damage to our shores, wildlife, and trade. However, if we as a nation do not stand up against the government then as most of you are saying, we will eventually destroy our lives. How long will GOD let us continue destroying what he so graciously gave, I don't know. I do know that Man/Woman, (yes women included) is destroying everything that we have. What happened to our Nation that was determined not to be ruled when this great country was first started? We were and independent nation who made our own products and used our own people to work? What happened to all the Constituional rights that we had in placed? When did we as a nation let the Govenment do all the decisions without letting all the people vote on it? When did we allow ourselves to be led like sheep on this destructive path of our world? Does anyone know the Constitutional Laws and Amendments with a loop hole to stop the way our government is being runned? I know one thing, our govenmental staff, from the top ladder to the bottom, has become more crooked than the last. We need to look back in History! And last but not least When did we stop putting GOD in our lives and our Country, our NATION? When we left GOD out of our NATION we all went down hill as a nation. I know this to be true,. How many of you walked away from God and things went from good to bad but when you turned back to him, things started going right again? I did, and I learned the lesson the hard way. Yes some of you say I am preaching, but I am telling everyone of you and our nation, if we don't turn this nation back to God, we will not be able to turn it around, cause People you can't do it without him. God is the one who can and will if we let him. SO I say God please help our NAtion as you once did. I hope that everyone who reads this will ask the same thing.

Why? Why? You Know "Why".We're having the daily difficulties heard and seen each day
because America doesn't prove the thesis of "Why?" Christopher Columbus came to the northeastern shores of America's continent in 1492.Sure,He was "economically" sponcered with three ships from Spain for the possible new findings to be discovered.But,Mr.Columbus came here to have All Ten Commandments and the freedom to live them without being punished as they were in England.Who remembers Queen Elizabeth the First promoting and ruling the "Church Of England" with only seven commandments?America needs to Live Right,according to Lord Jesus Christ,NOT Wall Street.