Nearly 16 million people are officially out of work in America today. That’s the good news. The bad news is that number shoots past 25 million when you account for all those folks who are unemployed, under-employed, or simply didn’t take the time to fill out the silly reporting forms. But don’t worry: The White House is hosting a Jobs Summit later this week. No word yet if the president will be serving beer.
Thankfully, when it comes to coming up with new ways to spur immediate and sustainable job creation in this country, we’ve got options. One of those options is to start getting serious about developing Alaska’s massive homegrown energy reserves for the benefit of the American people. And thankfully, that option – let’s call it the “public option” for kicks – is starting to get a lot more attention in the corridors of power in Washington, D.C.
In recent US Senate hearing, top brass for a handful of energy companies took to Capitol Hill to passionately make the case for Congress to expand America’s responsible offshore energy access. This, after all, is a commonsense approach to not only help keep prices at the pump stable, but to also put Americans back to work.
The Houston Chronicle’s Jennifer Dlouhy reports this under the headline “Energy companies defend their offshore work”:
“Access to the vast resources in the (outer continental shelf) is critical,” said Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Co. “Developing more of our own resources will … avoid the hypocrisy of being willing to buy (oil) from other countries rather than produce our own.”
“There’s a need for balance,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, adding that though the U.S. “has some of the most stringent environmental standards in the world,” those safeguards could be undermined if new restrictions in drilling leases and other limits encouraged companies to abandon American territories for countries with weaker protections.
Is offshore energy production environmentally safe? You betcha.
Odum emphasized Shell’s environmental safeguards and touted new technological advancements that have allowed drilling from smaller footprints that can reach oil and gas within a 30-mile radius.
Alaskans – who are blessed with huge amounts of job-creating resources – deserve action from Washington, not more doubletalk. Thankfully, we have a congressional delegation that continues to unwaveringly fight on our behalf, and on behalf of commonsense energy policies that promote – not discourage – 21st century offshore energy development, especially in the Beaufort and Chucki Seas.
