RosenbergBPDisasterResearchAnnotation1

Graves, Lucia. "Judge Who Lifted Moratorium Tied To Offshore Drilling Companies." // Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post //. The Huffington Post, 22 June 2010. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. .   ** 2. Where does the author work, what else has s/he written about, and what are her/his credentials? **
 * 1. Full citation. **

The author, Lucia Graves, works as a politics writer for the Huffington Post. In the past, she has discussed topics such as the prevalence of guns in United States political culture, Bernie Sanders’ fight against Obama’s tax legislation, and NY Times reporting of controversies of House of Representatives candidates. It is difficult to find much concerning her credentials, but she seems to have a twitter page ( []) on which she has numerous connections with other bloggers and journalists. Although it seems through her writing and choice of quotes that she has a slight bias towards left leaning interests, she has appeared to be willing to raise objections to the policies of both ends of the political spectrum at times.

** 3. What is the main topic or argument of the text? ** 

Throughout the piece, the author suggests that financial conflicts of interest amongst judges in states along the Gulf of Mexico have compromised their ability to properly weigh issues related to offshore drilling in the region.

** 4. Describe at least three ways that the main topic or argument is fleshed out. ** 

The principal argument is fleshed out through reference to statistics drawn from watchdog associations and quotes from a Vice President at the Center for American Progress. In particular, a financial disclosure report from Martin Feldman is referenced which depicts his stock portfolio, and shows that the judge had thousands of dollars of financial interests tied to these corporations. Additionally, research by the Associated Press is cited which states that 37 of the 64 active or senior judges in the region have some links to these interests. Last, a quote from the Feldman is presented, in which he states the importance of oil and gas interests to the Gulf community as a rationalization of his lifting of the moratorium on drilling.

** 5. What three quotes capture the critical import of the text? ** 

·  “Martin Feldman, a U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, held energy stocks in Transocean and Halliburton, as well as two of BP's largest U.S. private shareholders -- BlackRock and JP Morgan Chase.” ·  “Thirty-seven of the 64 active or senior judges in key Gulf Coast districts in Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida have links to oil, gas and related energy industries, including some who own stocks or bonds in BP PLC, Halliburton or Transocean, according to the Associated Press. “     ·   “ The law Feldman overturned would have halted the approval of any new permits and suspended deepwater drilling at 33 existing exploratory wells in the Gulf, four of which are BP rigs.”

** 6. Explain how the argument and evidence in the text supports your research focus. ** 

As a large source of profits and royalties, the oil industry has been a source of a substantial amount of lobbying and other such activities which may lead to conflicts of interests between the regulators and the regulated. Since these practices may affect the stringency of regulation faced by particular corporations, it is beneficial to examine the degree to which these issues may arise in practice. Seeing these figures serves to corroborate the notion that there may be additional motives among these political decisions beyond the safety and security of drilling operations, and raises doubts as to whether legislation may be properly enforced if brought before the court system.


 * 7. List at least two details or references from the text that will be useful to other members of your research group **

1)

The Stock Portfolio of Judge Martin Feldman (Income Not Specified is Under $1000):

JP Morgan Chase, BlackRock ($12,000 - $36,000)  Also Ocean Energy ($1,000 - $2,500) NGP Capital Resources ($1,000 - $2,500) Quicksilver Resources ($5,000 - $15,000) Hercules Offshore ($6,000 - $17,500) Provident Energy Peabody Energy PenGrowth Energy RPC Inc Atlas Energy Resources Parker Drilling TXCO Resources EV Energy Partners Rowan Companies BPZ Resources El Paso Corp KBR Inc Chesapeake Energy ATP Oil & Gas <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2) The above information was obtained from the website [], which is a watch dog think tank which tracks information such as financial records of both judges and politicians alike. They do not appear to have a particular bias, as their “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians” list seems to include an equal representation of Democrats and Republicans.