Salazar Plans New Drilling Ban

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, hours after a judge blocked the moratorium on deepwater drilling, announced that a new one is on the way. Salazar says he will order a new ban "within days"to ensure there's no repeat of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Reuters reports. "We see clear evidence every day, as oil spills from BP's well, of the need for a pause on deepwater drilling ," he said.

The earlier moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico was described as "heavy-handed, and rather overbearing" by the federal judge who blocked it, complaining that there was insufficient justification. Salazar, who testifies before a Senate subcommittee today, says the new order will make the justification clear and "eliminate any doubt" that a moratorium is needed. (More Gulf oil spill stories.)