The Obama administration on Monday issued a new six-month deepwater drilling moratorium.
An earlier moratorium was overturned by federal courts in Louisiana that found the U.S. government failed to show irreparable harm would take place if the moratorium was not imposed.
The new moratorium, issued by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, is worded differently–though it applies to the same oil rigs (approximately 33 exploratory wells). The moratorium is based on the drilling technologies used, rather than on the water depth of the drilling.
The oil industry is likely to challenge the new moratorium in court, as they did the previous moratorium.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he is confident this ban will hold up in court, allowing the government time to complete an investigation into what caused the explosion that led to the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
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