The Stealth Offshore Drilling Ban

It's not just deepwater rigs that have been stopped from drilling.  It appears the Obama administration has decided to stop ALL new drilling regardless of water depth:

The offshore drilling ban imposed after the BP disaster is only supposed to hit operations in deep water -- 500 feet or more.

But drillers in shallow water say they haven't been issued permits since the April 20 explosion. The delay has already forced hundreds of layoffs, and many more could be on the way.

"I'm almost out of business over here," said Paul Butler, president of Spartan Offshore, a small drilling company in Metairie, La.

Butler said that only one of his four drill rigs are operating; all four were drilling before the spill. Spartan has six contracts that would put his entire fleet back to work, but he can't get going until the permits come through, he added.

The week before last, Butler said he had to lay off 72 employees. Come Tuesday he'll have to let another 140 go.

"That's 140 families, is how I look at it," Butler said.

Same is true at Hercules Offshore, the largest shallow water driller in the Gulf.

"The Department of Interior isn't issuing permits," said Jim Noe, a Hercules executive. "By mid July all of our rigs will be on the beach, and the workers without a job."

That could be a lot of jobs.

Companies that can will move their rigs to waters where nations will allow them to drill, and those nations will benefit from the oil supply and revenue. BP already has a new deepwater well planned shortly for Libya.

Local operators along the Gulf Coast will simply be put out of business. How is it possibly better for America to put our offshore drilling companies into bankruptcy, not to mention the families involved?

The environmentalists are running amok.