On Tuesday, President Obama ordered the EPA to issue even more job-killing regulations, once again advocated for huge tax hikes on oil and natural gas producers, and announced he will try to impede coal exports. And you wonder why more than 11 million Americans are unemployed. Looking to actually solve this failure of Obama’s presidency, House Republicans have introduced legislation that would allow oil and natural gas producers to develop America’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the aptly named Offshore Energy and Jobs Act.
Here’s what President Obama’s “offshore plan” looks like today:
Energy production is prohibited of a whopping 85 percent of offshore areas under President Obama’s plan. And there’s a lot of oil and natural gas locked up under those red “do not drill” regions: 2.5 billion barrels or 7.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Republicans rightly think that hundreds of thousands of new jobs, increased energy security, and billion-dollar investments are a good thing. That is why, under the House’s offshore energy bill, the OCS map will look like this:
The Offshore Energy and Jobs Act has the potential to create over a million jobs and should become law as soon as possible.
This week’s action is indicative of both Parties’ energy platforms: Republicans think Americans deserve affordable, reliable energy. Democrats cheer the subversion of Congress to punish producers of carbon-based fuel.