Judge's ruling could end Gulf oil production: 'Death by a thousand cuts,' senator warns

Federal courts and the climate lobby are waging "war" on the American oil worker by blocking fracking permits, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy told FOX Business in response to a recent piece from the Wall Street Journal editorial board on Tuesday.

The WSJ article homed in on restrictions placed on offshore drilling, emphasizing, in particular, a recent court ruling from Federal Judge Deborah Boardman which could, in their words, "stop almost all offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico."

"When the courts do these actions. They are against the American worker. They are against the American economy. They're also, by the way, since U.S. natural gas helps lower global greenhouse gas emissions. They're against the world environment. And they also say they're against our allies because our gas supports countries like Germany. It's overactive courts doing a heck of a lot of damage," Cassidy told Stuart Varney.

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When Varney asked whether offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico could come to a halt, Cassidy replied: They're trying to "increase the cost basis."

"They don't want to ban fracking, so to speak. What they're trying to do is just death by a thousand cuts and, if you can never get the deal done, your costs rise, and finally you just walk away from it. You see projects where this happens, and they're doing it on the basis of ‘environmental justice,’ which is very difficult to define," he said. "Ultimately, this is a war on the American worker, the global environment and our allies."

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The Journal's piece stated that Boardman "largely agreed" with the green lobby, who claimed that a 2020 National Marine Fisheries Service environmental assessment on the risk of endangered species in the Gulf failed to adequately consider "risks from potential spills to threatened species and lacked sufficient protections for the rice whale."

"The judge largely agreed, and courts typically remand environmental assessments to agencies for revisions when they find shortcomings. Not Judge Boardman, who vacated the assessment, meaning new drilling permits and leases can’t be issued until a new biological opinion is completed and existing ones may also be legally void," the piece explained, adding, "Oil production in the Gulf could grind to a halt in December when the vacatur takes effect."

Cassidy is introducing the REPAIR Act to address court overreaches in such areas, to help prevent delays caused by the judicial process and to ensure that all laws related to permitting have the same review process, scope of adjudication, rules for standing, and statute of limitations.

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