Today, Josh Gerstein of Politico has a piece entitled
“Obama: Time to get to work on jobs.” He states:
“President Barack Obama on Monday pushed his economic advisers to come up with job-generating ideas that can be hustled up to Capitol Hill.”
Well, it’s about time. Since January, Republicans have hustled job creation suggestions to the White House – but unfortunately, not many of us were invited into the West Wing.
In September, we released a list of specific ways the Administration and the White House Council of Economic Advisers could create a wide range of high-paying energy jobs in America, including:
Nuclear Jobs – The Republican American Energy Act (H.R. 2846) would bring 100 new nuclear reactors online over the next 20 years, creating tens of thousands of carbon free energy jobs.
Green Jobs – The American Energy Act (H.R. 2846) also creates a Renewable and Alternative Energy Trust Fund to provide directed funding for new renewable energy projects. Tens of thousands of new, skilled high paying jobs would be created in the hydropower, solar, wind, clean coal, biomass and geothermal energy industries.
Offshore Drilling Jobs – By issuing a defacto moratorium on new offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the Administration is passing up the opportunity to create millions of new, high-paying jobs. According to the American Energy Alliance, lifting the moratoria on energy development on the OCS would create 1.2 million jobs annually across the country and generate $70 billion in additional wages.
Manufacturing Jobs – The Democrats’ National Energy Tax would raise energy prices and eliminate over 2.5 million American jobs, including manufacturing jobs. These jobs would be saved if the Administration withdrew this job-killing legislation.
Unfortunately, we’ve received no word back. Instead, the Obama Administration has continued to work quietly work against all-of-the-above energy job creation. A few recent examples include:
October 8th The Department of Interior announcement that only 17 out of 77 parcels of land in Utah will be leased for oil and gas production.
September 17th Secretary Salazar signals he is in no hurry to move forward with offshore drilling and new job creation on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Instead of more rhetoric, it’s time for the Administration to finally support all-of-the-above energy jobs and clearly fulfill the President’s promise to explore each and every avenue that will lead to job creation and economic growth.
