Washington, D.C. – ThinkProgress reported on Tuesday that Judge Martin Feldman, the U.S. District Court Judge who declared illegal the Obama administration’s blanket, 6-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, had income in 2008 from a host of energy stocks. ThinkProgress has now obtained Feldman’s latest financial disclosure report — for calendar year 2009. The disclosure, which was filed just earlier this month, reveals that Feldman may still own Transocean stock. The report also indicates that Feldman owns a new stock that was not listed in his 2008 report: Exxon.
Here are some of Feldman’s energy holdings:
Exxon
Ocean Energy
Provident Energy Trust
Peabody Energy Corp
Atlas Energy Resources
EV Energy Partners
Basic Energy Services
Petrohawk Energy Corp
Boardwalk Pipeline Partnership
Valero Energy Corp
Crosstex Energy
Noble Corp (a leading offshore drilling company)
View the full disclosure report here. Judge Feldman’s energy-investment income suggests a bias in favor of sustaining the fossil fuel energy industry. Recall that the question that Feldman was asked to rule on was whether Obama’s drilling moratorium inflicts an undue harm to the public interest.
Feldman ruled that the suspension of deepwater drilling “simply cannot justify the immeasurable effect on the plaintiffs, the local economy, the Gulf region, and the critical present-day aspect of the availability of domestic energy in this country.” The energy companies who filed suit against the administration arguing the importance of oil drilling for the economy probably didn’t have to do much to convince Feldman.
CAP Action’s Kate Gordon is available for comment on Justice Feldman’s energy holdings and his ruling declaring President Obama’s Deepwater Drilling Moratorium illegal. To speak with him, please contact Suzi Emmerling at 202-481-8224 or [email protected].
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