The U.S. government on Monday issued a new moratorium on deepwater drilling, seeking to make the oil industry safer following the huge Gulf of Mexico disaster. The Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement that more than 80 days into the BP oil spill, a pause on deepwater drilling is essential and appropriate to protect communities, coasts, and wildlife from the risks that deepwater drilling currently poses. <br/><br/>Unlike the last moratorium lifted by the District Court on June 22, the new moratorium does not suspend activities based on water depth, but on the basis of the drilling configurations and technologies.