US District Judge Martin Feldman who overturned the Obama administration's initial six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling has rejected the government's bid to have the challenge thrown out

摘要

Government lawyers argued that a lawsuit filed by several offshore service companies over the May 28 moratorium was moot because the Interior Department imposed a new, temporary drilling ban on Jul. 12. Feldman rejected that argument, saying the second moratorium "arguably fashions no substantial changes" from the first. The Justice Department has asked the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals to review Feldman's earlier ruling overturning the first moratorium.