FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
As oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, the debate over deepwater offshore drilling is heating up.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/23/art.oil.jpg caption=""]
The Obama administration is pushing back after a federal judge ruled against a six month moratorium the president put in place after the BP oil disaster.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the government will issue a new moratorium that will be less restrictive on drilling.
Salazar says that we need a "pause" on deepwater drilling.
The White House says it doesn't make sense to keep drilling at these depths without knowing what happened - that doing so puts lots of people in danger.
But not everyone agrees.
Many in the offshore oil industry, as well as local politicians, have been calling for the ban to be lifted, saying it's hurting business and throwing people out of work.
The federal judge sided with the companies which filed suit against the government saying they are suffering "irreparable harm" as a result of the moratorium.
Louisiana's Governor Bobby Jindal and Senator Mary Landrieu are asking the Obama administration not to appeal the ruling.
Landrieu, a democrat, says she would rather they find a way forward that would meet the goals of safety and responsibility without jeopardizing an entire industry.
And Texas oil executive T. Boone Pickens compares shutting down all deepwater oil rigs after the BP accident to shutting down all airlines after one plane crash.
Here’s my question to you: Should deepwater offshore oil drilling be banned?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Geri in Oklahoma writes:
No, it shouldn't even though the oil companies need to clean up their act and the Gulf. You forget, Jack, we don't have an energy policy in this country as of yet. People and politicians believe the oil will just keep gushing forth forever…. Things can change mighty fast, Jack, and the oil isn't going to last forever, it's even rumored Saudi Arabia is running low.
Terry in Illinois writes:
Jack, I do not think it should be banned but numerous changes need to take place. I work in a nuclear plant. The Three Mile Island incident in 1979 did not cause this much damage, yet the nuclear industry was required by our government to install extra backup systems, change procedures, have more oversight from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), increase number of evaluations, increase the amount of maintenance, and use conservative decision making when addressing a problem. The oil industry should be no different.
Suzanne in Kansas writes:
If we don't ban deepwater oil drilling, my fear is that years from now we will be telling our grandchildren about a time when you could swim in the ocean and could eat fish and their eyes will widen with amazement. BP and other companies have no business in the ocean. What's done is done. All we can do is clean up this mess, focus on the animals and make sure these clowns in suits never have a chance to be remorseful over their mistakes again.
Gordon in New Jersey writes:
No, but an Air Force-style "stand-down" is certainly a good idea… Where companies are operating with substandard Blow Out Preventers (like BP was) it's time to shut down those rigs down until they can be upgraded with more redundant systems. America can't afford another big leak, but neither can we afford to give up offshore oil, and our economy needs those jobs.
Emmett Smith (No, not that one!) in Mobile, Alabama writes:
Hell yes, deep water oil drilling should be banned! We simply don't have the technology yet to do it safely. Any more drilling in water more than 500 feet deep would be like playing Russian roulette.