Power Lines: November 30, 2011
IN THE NEWS
A recent Wall Street Journal editorial highlights the explosive growth of the U.S. oil and natural gas industry.
So President Obama was right all along. Domestic energy production really is a path to prosperity and new job creation. His mistake was predicting that those new jobs would be "green," when the real employment boom is taking place in oil and gas.
A recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report reveals that while the overall unemployment rate remains stuck at around 9 percent, certain industries are “bucking the jobless trend.” Oil and gas production is one such industry – employing “some 440,000 workers, an 80% increase, or 200,000 more jobs, since 2003.” In fact, oil and gas jobs “account for more than one in five of all net new private jobs in that period.”
While Washington has tried to force-feed renewable energy with tens of billions in special subsidies, oil and gas production has boomed thanks to private investment. And while renewable technology breakthroughs never seem to arrive, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have revolutionized oil and gas extraction—with no Energy Department loan guarantees needed.
The editorial cites a recent study conducted by Wood Mackenzie that estimates “better federal energy policy would create an additional 1.4 million jobs by 2030.” Nevertheless, the Obama Administration continues to frustrate, obstruct, and delay domestic oil and gas production that would enhance our energy security and put Americans back to work.
The Interior Department recently “released a new five-year plan that puts most of the Outer Continental Shelf off-limits for oil drilling,” and the Administration refuses to make a decision regarding the Keystone XL Pipeline – a multibillion-dollar project that would boost the economy and create thousands of jobs. To make matters worse, the editorial noted a disturbing trend in federal revenue from lease sales:
The Office of Natural Resources Revenue recently noted that federal revenue from offshore bonus bids (from lease sales) in fiscal 2011 was merely $36 million—down from $9.5 billion in fiscal 2008. The Obama Administration has managed the nearly impossible feat of turning energy policy into a money loser […] (emphasis added).
The editorial concludes:
Mr. Obama […] keeps talking about "green jobs" as if repetition will conjure them. He'd do more for the economy if he dropped the ideological illusions and embraced the job-creating, wealth-producing reality of domestic fossil fuels.
WHAT ARE HOUSE REPUBLICANS DOING?
House Republicans support an all-of the-above energy approach that encourages development of alternative energy sources – wind, solar, hydropower, nuclear, geothermal and biomass – as well as clean coal and American-made oil and natural gas. The American Energy Initiative is an ongoing effort by House Republicans to address rising gasoline prices and expand American energy production. As the President continues to pursue counter-productive policies that harm consumers and discourage the production of American energy, House Republicans are committed to finding sensible solutions to families’ rapidly rising energy costs and putting Americans back to work.
For questions or further information contact Sarah Makin
For additional information, contact:
The House Republican Conference Policy Office
