Deep water drilling – it's what's behind the scenes that counts

Underwater view of oil gushing after the temporary cap broke at BP's rig

On the heels of the news that the cap that had been placed on BP’s gusher in the Gulf of Mexico had been broken by an underwater robot comes an even more fascinating revelation.

The Louisiana judge that had tossed out the moratorium on new offshore exploration and further deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf has extensive investments in the oil and gas industry.

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman reported these holdings in financial disclosure reports in 2008.

Turns out the judge owns stock in Tranocean, which owns the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and is the world’s largest offshore drilling company. Along with the $15,000 worth of stock, Judge Feldman also recently owned stock in oil industry corporations including  Halliburton, Prospect Energy, Hercules Offshore, Parker Drilling Co., and ATP Oil & Gas. 

And then there’s the one about a certain percentage of Congress who’s portfolios are chock full of oil industry investments and who, not surprisingly, are in favor of continuing deepwater drilling.

Has anyone heard the phrase “conflict of interest”? Apparently not.