Fifth Circuit rejects White House appeal to reinstate drilling ban

According to The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court has rejected the Obama administration's appeal of a June decision to overturn the six-month moratorium on offshore oil drilling, issued by the Interior Department in May. The judges decided that the department, specifically Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, didn't prove that the U.S. would suffer irreparable harm without an immediate ban. Read much more, here. For a longer treatment from the Journal, including details from a report that shows the panel's three judges have past connections with the oil industry, go here.