Ninth Circuit Wackos Block Shell From Drilling Off Alaska

The left claims to want energy independence, but when a company tries to drill in Alaska, the environmental wackos race to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which predictably blocks it.

Having it both ways, a time-honored tradition of the left.

U.S. appeals court blocks Shell drilling in Arctic

LOS ANGELES, Aug 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal appeals court in San Francisco on Wednesday upheld an order blocking Royal Dutch Shell Plc from exploratory drilling in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska's north coast.

"We are disappointed," said Shell in a press statement that added that no drilling will mean the loss of "hundreds of permanent jobs that would be created if Shell is successful in Alaska."

The ruling essentially says that a handful of environmental groups, Alaska Native groups and the North Slope Burough have merit in their arguments that the drilling could harm the environment. This sets up proceedings for the same Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to look into the matter more fully.

With December being the first chance for the three-judge panel to address the issue again, this shuts out Shell from drilling this winter before the Beaufort Sea freezes.

The three-judge panel ruled on Wednesday that the groups challenging Shell "raised serious questions and demonstrated the balance of hardships tips sharply in their favor," according to the ruling.

As usual, hysterical scare tactics abound.

Environmental groups, who say the area is also threatened by global warming, vowed to keep fighting Shell's drilling, which they say harms an area of the Arctic where endangered bowhead whales migrate.

"If polar bears are to survive as the Arctic melts in the state of global warming, we need to protect their critical habitat, not turn it into a polluted, industrial zone," said Brendan Cummings of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the petitioners.

Of course, the Ninth Circuit is the most frequently overturned of any in the nation, so expect Shell to get the go-ahead, but not without further legal headaches.