SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Judge Who Overturned Drilling Bans had Shares in the Oil Industry
Martin Feldman, who ruled against Barack Obama's moratorium, accused of conflict of interests
Jun 23, 2010
The judge who overturned deepwater drilling bans allowing BP to resume oil extraction in the Gulf of Mexico, had shares in Transocean and other firms in the industry, it was revealed today.
Yesterday, a Louisiana-based judge Martin Feldman ruled that Barack Obama's six-month drilling moratorium in the Gulf was unjustified because it assumed that all deepwater drilling was as dangerous as BP's.
The White House promised an immediate appeal.
Meanwhile
environmental groups have said Feldman's ruling may have to be
rescinded because of the possible conflict of interests.
Feldman's most recent financial disclosure forms
show that he was paid dividends from his shares in Transocean, the firm
that owned the Deepwater oil rig that exploded in April killing 11 oil
workers, prompting America's worst environmental disaster.
The
forms, which relate to the calendar year 2008, also show that he sold
shares in Halliburton, which was also involved in the disaster.
Feldman's
other interests included Ocean Energy, Quicksilver Resources, Prospect
Energy, Peabody Energy, Pengrowth Energy Trust, Atlas Energy Resources,
and Parker Drilling.
Obama's interior department imposed the
moratorium last month in the wake of the BP disaster, halting approval
of any new permits for deepwater projects and suspending drilling on 33
exploratory wells.
Feldman has yet to respond to the disclosures.
He is one of many federal judges across the Gulf Coast region with
money in oil and gas. Several have disqualified themselves from hearing
spill-related claims, while others have sold their holdings so they can
preside over many cases being filed.
Josh Reichert, managing
director of the Pew Environment Group, said the ruling should be
rescinded if he still held such shares.
"If Judge Feldman has any
investments in oil and gas operators in the Gulf, it represents a
flagrant conflict of interest," Reichert said.
At least two major oil companies, Shell and Marathon, said they would wait for the appeal before resuming drilling.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The judge who overturned deepwater drilling bans allowing BP to resume oil extraction in the Gulf of Mexico, had shares in Transocean and other firms in the industry, it was revealed today.
Yesterday, a Louisiana-based judge Martin Feldman ruled that Barack Obama's six-month drilling moratorium in the Gulf was unjustified because it assumed that all deepwater drilling was as dangerous as BP's.
The White House promised an immediate appeal.
Meanwhile
environmental groups have said Feldman's ruling may have to be
rescinded because of the possible conflict of interests.
Feldman's most recent financial disclosure forms
show that he was paid dividends from his shares in Transocean, the firm
that owned the Deepwater oil rig that exploded in April killing 11 oil
workers, prompting America's worst environmental disaster.
The
forms, which relate to the calendar year 2008, also show that he sold
shares in Halliburton, which was also involved in the disaster.
Feldman's
other interests included Ocean Energy, Quicksilver Resources, Prospect
Energy, Peabody Energy, Pengrowth Energy Trust, Atlas Energy Resources,
and Parker Drilling.
Obama's interior department imposed the
moratorium last month in the wake of the BP disaster, halting approval
of any new permits for deepwater projects and suspending drilling on 33
exploratory wells.
Feldman has yet to respond to the disclosures.
He is one of many federal judges across the Gulf Coast region with
money in oil and gas. Several have disqualified themselves from hearing
spill-related claims, while others have sold their holdings so they can
preside over many cases being filed.
Josh Reichert, managing
director of the Pew Environment Group, said the ruling should be
rescinded if he still held such shares.
"If Judge Feldman has any
investments in oil and gas operators in the Gulf, it represents a
flagrant conflict of interest," Reichert said.
At least two major oil companies, Shell and Marathon, said they would wait for the appeal before resuming drilling.
The judge who overturned deepwater drilling bans allowing BP to resume oil extraction in the Gulf of Mexico, had shares in Transocean and other firms in the industry, it was revealed today.
Yesterday, a Louisiana-based judge Martin Feldman ruled that Barack Obama's six-month drilling moratorium in the Gulf was unjustified because it assumed that all deepwater drilling was as dangerous as BP's.
The White House promised an immediate appeal.
Meanwhile
environmental groups have said Feldman's ruling may have to be
rescinded because of the possible conflict of interests.
Feldman's most recent financial disclosure forms
show that he was paid dividends from his shares in Transocean, the firm
that owned the Deepwater oil rig that exploded in April killing 11 oil
workers, prompting America's worst environmental disaster.
The
forms, which relate to the calendar year 2008, also show that he sold
shares in Halliburton, which was also involved in the disaster.
Feldman's
other interests included Ocean Energy, Quicksilver Resources, Prospect
Energy, Peabody Energy, Pengrowth Energy Trust, Atlas Energy Resources,
and Parker Drilling.
Obama's interior department imposed the
moratorium last month in the wake of the BP disaster, halting approval
of any new permits for deepwater projects and suspending drilling on 33
exploratory wells.
Feldman has yet to respond to the disclosures.
He is one of many federal judges across the Gulf Coast region with
money in oil and gas. Several have disqualified themselves from hearing
spill-related claims, while others have sold their holdings so they can
preside over many cases being filed.
Josh Reichert, managing
director of the Pew Environment Group, said the ruling should be
rescinded if he still held such shares.
"If Judge Feldman has any
investments in oil and gas operators in the Gulf, it represents a
flagrant conflict of interest," Reichert said.
At least two major oil companies, Shell and Marathon, said they would wait for the appeal before resuming drilling.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.