Political Quotes

“Rarely are the goals of our country as aligned as they are now. Clearly we need economic recovery with good jobs and with good benefits for those who frankly right now have a problem with unemployment. As it turns out, we also have the goal of increasing our energy security and, lastly, a goal of protecting our environment. Now, let's just go through these in order. As regards jobs, let's just talk about the oil and gas industry. The President, the administration's estimates of the economic impact of the moratorium and the permitorium are hundreds of thousands of jobs lost and about $2.5 billion in lost economic activity. This is not just the gulf coast and it is not just the oil rig workers. It is also those who work on pipelines. It is boat builders. Indeed, as it turns out, one of the boat builders in Louisiana is the largest customer worldwide of Caterpillar engines. An engine that is built in the State of Illinois using steel from the Midwest is used on the coast of Louisiana to build boats to service those rigs. Needless to say, those Caterpillar engines are not now being ordered. That steel order going to Caterpillar to build these is not being done. So the jobs that ripple out are not just in the gulf coast, but go all the way across the country. We also have a goal to increase our energy security. Prior to Macondo, one-third of the domestically produced oil in the United States came from the Outer Continental Shelf.…”