Federal judge overturns moratorium on deepwater drilling; Obama vows appeal

A federal judge in New Orleans has overturned a moratorium on deepwater oil drilling, instituted by President Obama at the end of May. The judge said the Interior Department’s decision to suspend drilling in the Gulf was arbitrary. Obama, on Tuesday, vowed to appeal the decision.

Judge Martin Feldman’s decision was celebrated in some parts of the Gulf ? including Lafayette, Louisiana, where the local economy is hugely dependent upon the deep-water drilling industry. Gregg Gothreaux is President and CEO of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority. He’s been against the moratorium from the start. “It just adds insult to injury,” Gothreaux says. “If we wipe out this area’s economy, that’s not the answer to the problem.”

Meanwhile, Judge Feldman’s financial disclosure forms from 2008 show that he had investments in both Haliburton and Transocean. Dave Cohen, news director for WWL in New Orleans, joins us with the story.