Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones statement on judge's decision blocking offshore drilling moratorium:

“I applaud the decision yesterday by the U.S. District Court granting the request by Hornbeck and others for an injunction against the federal government’s imposition of a general moratorium on deepwater drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The judge found that the report commissioned by the President made no effort to justify the moratorium. I am also extremely disappointed that Secretary Ken Salazar is moving forward with his misguided plan to impose a blanket moratorium on deep water drilling.”

“It is wrong for the Administration to subject the people of the states, including Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico, to further economic and financial distress by misplaced federal policy shutting down the development of America’s offshore energy resources. There is no justification for such a substantial loss of American jobs.”

“In a letter last week to the President, I urged him to reconsider a moratorium that will cripple our offshore drilling industry. We must continue to allow exploration for oil and gas where the largest reserves can be found in our own deep water so that we can achieve maximum energy security. We should greatly expand our use of natural gas, of which America is blessed with substantial onshore resources. Greatly increasing our use of natural gas can reduce our future demand for refined crude.”

“Private industry, not government, must provide the engine of the growth of our future energy supplies, as we move from our dependence on conventional resources in the decades to come. In the meantime, it is imperative that our energy development utilizes the safest drilling procedures conducted under the most prudent operating methods.”