News Media Contact:
Nicole Daigle / Brendan Bradley
202.857.4722 / 800.433.2851

For Immediate Release
June 11, 2010

WASHINGTON - While the White House continues to put politics and poll numbers ahead of sound policy and the tens of thousands of Gulf families whose lives rely on the responsible development of American oil and natural gas production, leaders from the region - as well as the
Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) - continue to fight for commonsense solutions, jobs and energy security. IPAA believes that this "moratoria will only ensure that our nation's dependence on unstable regions of the world to fuel our economy will compound, and that the supplies of energy that the American people rely on will become far less stable."

Major newspapers, independent experts, congressmen, senators and local leaders are speaking out about the devastating effects the White House's offshore energy exploration moratorium will have on an economy that has already been shaken to its core.

• Independent experts say "blanket moratorium is not the answer": The experts' criticism of the moratorium and effort to distance themselves from it come as oil production companies prepare to move mobile deepwater rigs out of the Gulf of Mexico, threatening thousands of jobs in Louisiana that support those drilling operations with supply boats and shoreside services. "A blanket moratorium is not the answer. It will not measurably reduce risk further and it will have a lasting impact on the nation's economy which may be greater than that of the oil spill," the letter says. "We do not believe punishing the innocent is the right thing to do." ... The National Academy of Engineering provided seven reviewers for Salazar's safety report...wrote a scathing cover letter Tuesday that concludes: "The Secretary should be free to recommend whatever he thinks is correct, but he should not be free to use our names to justify his political decisions." (Times-Picayune, 6/8/10)
  
  
• New Orleans paper says Obama moratorium could cost 20,000 jobs: "We're already reeling from the loss of thousands of fishing industry jobs. We now could see an estimated 20,000 oil-services jobs vanish due to your six-month federal moratorium on deepwater exploratory drilling. That could do even greater damage to the economy than the well-chronicled fishing industry losses." (Times-Picayune Editorial, 6/5/10)
  
  
• La. congressman says Obama moratorium will cost jobs, "undermines U.S. energy security": "When the president said he was looking for someone's "ass to kick," I hope he didn't intend to aim his foot at the 320,000 Louisianans who owe their livelihoods to the energy economy. An offshore moratorium ... is harsh punishment for the welders, pipe fitters, roustabouts and workers in the range of service and support industries connected to energy production in the Gulf Coast. ... The Louisiana Dept. of Economic Development estimates that this will eliminate more than 10,000 jobs in the near term and more than 20,000 within 18 months. ... The moratorium also undermines U.S. energy security." (Politico, 6/10/10)
  
  
• Obama moratorium "has workers across [La.] in fear of losing their jobs": "In Port Fourchon, servicing the oil rigs isn't just a way of life, it fuels their economy. Like the Wal-mart of the oil industry, 1400 acres are designed to meet every need an oil company may have. Preside Obama's 6 month moratorium on deep water drilling in the gulf, has workers here and across the state in fear of losing their jobs." (Fox 8-TV, 6/9/10)
  
  
• Offshore moratorium is a jobs moratorium: "The moratorium immediately shut down 33 deepwater rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, including 22 near Louisiana. According to the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, this action could cost 3,000 to 6,000 Louisiana jobs in the next two to three weeks and potentially 20,000 by the end of next year. For every one employee on an oil rig, there are nine employees onshore supporting that one employee. These are good paying jobs that contribute to the Gulf region's economy." (Washington Times, NAM's John Engler, 6/9/10)
  
  
• Job-killing moratorium "suggest political panic more than careful policy": "That will arrive too late for thousands of Gulf residents who are at risk of losing their jobs within weeks as deep water rigs prepare to leave the Gulf. ... Americans don't blame Mr. Obama for the oil spill, but they are beginning to doubt the competence of a President whose decisions suggest political panic more than careful policy. In their letter, the seven experts encouraged Mr. Salazar to "overcome emotion with logic" and rethink the ban. That's good political advice too." (Wall Street Journal Editorial, 6/10/10)
  
  
• Obama moratorium "could cost at least 46,000 jobs" in La.: "I am concerned that the decision to impose the moratorium is based more on emotion than fact," Republican Rep. John Culberson of Texas wrote in a letter to the president. "This shortsighted moratorium is harmful to America and our fragile economy..." Culberson said. ... The industry estimates the decision could cost at least 46,000 jobs ..."The moratorium will cost us more jobs and economic devastation, on top of the repercussions of the spill itself, as energy companies move their businesses away from the coast," said Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana." (Washington Examiner, 6/10/10)
  
  
• Obama moratorium puts 80,000 Houston jobs at risk: "Houston's economy will be hit hard as the government puts new rules in place that will block all new offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, according to experts. Dr. Lee Hunt, president of the International Association of Drilling Contractors, estimated Thursday the local job losses from the expanded moratorium on drilling, which includes both deepwater and shallow-water areas, would be in the tens of thousands. "From 25,000 to 80,000 people immediately," he said." (KENS5-TV, 6/4/10)
  
  
• La. congressman: "A misdirected approach to a problem": "President Barack Obama's six-month moratorium on offshore oil drilling will cripple the industry in southeast Louisiana, U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, told a town hall audience in Old Metairie today. "You want to talk about a misdirected approach to a problem," Scalise said to a favorable crowd at the American Legion hall on Metairie Road. ... He said as many as 30,000 Louisiana jobs are at stake if the moratorium remains in effect for a half-year." (Times-Picayune, 6/8/10)
  
  
• Sen. Landrieu blasts moratorium: "Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, a key Democrat on the Senate energy committee, blasted Obama's top offshore drilling official for the administration's ongoing ban of deepwater drilling in the Gulf Coast, charging the decision could cost her home state more than 300,000 jobs." (Daily Caller, 6/9/10)

BONUS

• A message from the Gulf to the White House: "You just don't get it": "Chett Chiasson, the executive director of Port Fourchon in Louisiana, has a message for President Obama - and any Americans who have applauded the administration's decision to halt deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico: You just don't get it. "I don't know that this country realizes the cascading impacts of this moratorium," said Mr. Chiasson, whose estimates that his port handles 90 percent of the traffic servicing the deep-water oil and gas industry in the gulf. "It's going to have an impact for years to come." (New York Times, 6/4/10)