Interior: Drilling freeze is ‘necessary and appropriate’ due to risks

The Interior Department on Saturday defended its controversial six-month ban on deepwater oil-and-gas drilling following revelations that the agency estimated it would cost 23,000 jobs.

Spokesman Matt Lee-Ashley points out that the Obama administration won an agreement from BP to set up a $100 million fund for affected workers, and a “worst case” scenario from the ban has not come to pass.

Here’s Lee-Ashley’s full response:

We have been very clear that the economic impacts of the deepwater drilling moratorium could be meaningful and would need to be addressed and mitigated, and this is why the Administration secured an agreement from BP to set up a $100 million fund for rig workers who may be adversely affected by the moratorium.



In light of the current risks of deepwater drilling as illustrated by the BP Deepwater Horizon Spill and the potential impacts of another spill, the moratorium is necessary and appropriate. With that said, the worst-case economic impact estimates from three months ago have not been realized. The reality on the ground suggests that the impacts are less than we initially projected as a potential worst-case scenario.

He said the White House Council of Economic Advisers is “coordinating” an updated analysis.