"On Tuesday, the Obama administration lifted the deepwater drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico and said it would work to speed approval of shallow-water drilling permits, which have also slowed in the aftermath of the BP spill.

The move did not mollify Senator Mary Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, who has been harshly critical of the moratorium and expressed her displeasure in September by indefinitely blocking the appointment of Jack Lew, President Obama’s nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget."

John Collins Rudolf reports for the New York Times October 13, 2010. [2]