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Salazar seeks to reimpose drilling moratorium despite ban
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says he will issue a new order imposing a moratorium on deepwater drilling after a federal judge struck down the existing one.
Salazar said in a statement Tuesday evening that the new order will contain additional information making clear why the six-month drilling pause was necessary in the wake of the Gulf oil spill. The judge in New Orleans who struck down the moratorium earlier in the day complained there wasn’t enough justification for it.
Obama likens Gulf environmental disaster to 9/11
Breitbart (AFP), “Obama likens Gulf environmental disaster to 9/11”
President Barack Obama likened the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to the September 11 attacks in an interview published on the eve of his fourth visit Monday to the stricken region.
“In the same way that our view of our vulnerabilities and our foreign policy was shaped profoundly by 9/11, I think this disaster is going to shape how we think about the environment and energy for many years to come,” he told Politico.com.
Obama said he would be making a fresh bid to get Congress to pass a major energy and climate bill.
Breitbart (AFP) article continues here.
Well cap captures more oil, but outlook’s gloomy
Breitbart (AP), “Well cap captures more oil, but outlook’s gloomy”
by Harry R. Weber and Ray Henry
The cap on the blown-out well in the Gulf is capturing a half-million gallons a day, or anywhere from one-third to three-quarters of the oil spewing from the bottom of the sea, officials said Monday. But the hopeful report was offset by a warning that the farflung slick has broken up into hundreds and even thousands of patches of oil that may inflict damage that could persist for years.
Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government’s point man for the crisis, said the breakup has complicated the cleanup.
“Dealing with the oil spill on the surface is going to go on for a couple of months,” he said at a briefing in Washington. But “long-term issues of restoring the environment and the habitats and stuff will be years.”
Allen said the containment cap that was installed late last week is now collecting about 460,000 gallons of a day out of the approximately 600,000 to 1.2 million gallons believed to be spewing from the well a mile underwater.
Breitbart (AP) article continues here.
Obama tells students not to blame others
Breitbart (AP), “Obama to high school grads: ‘Don’t make excuses’”
by Tim Martin and Darlene Superville
“I think that America has a lot to learn from Kalamazoo Central about what makes for a successful school in this new century,” Obama said, listing community and parent involvement and high standards set by teachers.
“You could have made excuses—our kids have fewer advantages, our schools have fewer resources, so how can we compete? You could have spent years pointing fingers—blaming parents, blaming teachers, blaming the principal or the superintendent or the government,” the president said.
“But instead, you came together. You were honest with yourselves about where you were falling short. And you resolved to do better.”
Breitbart (AP) article continues here.
Lebanon fires on Israeli warplanes
Breitbart (AFP), “Lebanon fires on Israeli warplanes: security official”
Lebanon’s military fired anti-aircraft artillery at Israeli warplanes that were flying over Lebanon, a senior Israeli security official said on Tuesday.
“Our aircraft have been targeted by the Lebanese anti-aircraft guns while flying over southern Lebanon, and there was no damage,” the official who requested the anonymity told AFP.
A military spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the report.
Lebanon issues almost daily reports of Israeli violations of its air space, but its military rarely opens fire unless the planes fly within range of its guns.
Breitbart (AFP) article continues here.
US plans naval exercises with South Korea
Breitbart (AFP), “US plans naval exercises with South Korea:Pentagon”
The US military on Monday said it will carry out anti-submarine and other naval exercises with South Korea in the “near future” after a North Korean sub sank a South Korean warship.
The announcement came after an international investigation last week concluded that a North Korean submarine fired a heavy torpedo at the Cheonan on March 26, sinking the South Korean vessel and killing 46 sailors.
The decision to conduct anti-submarine as well as maritime interdiction exercises with Seoul’s military “are a result of the findings of this recent incident,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.
He declined to offer more details of the “important” exercises but said they would take place “in the near future.”
Breitbart (AFP) article continues here.
Merkel: Euro rescue package ‘just buys time’
Breitbart (AFP), “Euro rescue package ‘just buys time’: Merkel”
A trillion-dollar package to shore up ailing eurozone economies merely buys time until the deficits of certain members of the 16-member zone are cleaned up, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday.
Speaking at a conference of the Confederation of German Trade Unions, Merkel said that recent speculation against the euro “is only possible because of huge differences in the economic strengths and debt levels of member states.”
With the rescue package, “we have done nothing more than to buy time until we have brought order to these competitive differences and to the budget deficits of individual euro countries,” she said.
Breitbart (AFP) article continues here.
Obama Admin deploys lawyers to oil spill
Breitbart, “Attorney General Holder Dispatches Justice Department Team to Monitor British Petroleum Oil Spill”
Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that he is dispatching a team of attorneys from multiple divisions within the Justice Department to New Orleans to meet with the U.S. Attorney and response teams and to monitor the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“The British Petroleum oil spill has already cost lives and created a major environmental incident,” said Attorney General Holder. “The Justice Department stands ready to make available every resource at our disposal to vigorously enforce the laws that protect the people who work and reside near the Gulf, the wildlife, the environment and the American taxpayers.”
The team will be led by Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, and will include relevant United States Attorneys. The combined group from the Department plans to make a site visit and meet with representatives from federal agencies working on the response.
Breitbart article continues here.
NYC mayor defends Wall Street before Obama visit
Breitbart (AP), “NYC mayor defends Wall Street before Obama visit”
by Sara Kugler
As Congress debates sweeping legislation aimed at guarding against another financial meltdown, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has become Wall Street’s spokesman and defender amid a chorus of populist voices.
With President Barack Obama set to visit New York to push for passing financial reform, the billionaire mayor, who got his start on Wall Street in the 1960s and is considered a national expert on financial matters, argues that too much regulation could endanger the economy as much as others say it would protect it.
“The bashing of Wall Street is something that should worry everybody,” Bloomberg declared last week.
Breitbart (AP) article continues here.
Black conservatives take heat
Breitbart (AP), “Black conservative tea party backers take heat”
by Valerie Bauman
They’ve been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white tea party movement—and for having the audacity to oppose the policies of the nation’s first black president.
“I’ve been told I hate myself. I’ve been called an Uncle Tom. I’ve been told I’m a spook at the door,” said Timothy F. Johnson, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, a group of black conservatives who support free market principles and limited government.
“Black Republicans find themselves always having to prove who they are. Because the assumption is the Republican Party is for whites and the Democratic Party is for blacks,” he said.
Breitbart (AP) article continues here.