Another good argument for drilling...

...rat-cheer...

By choosing not to expand offshore oil and natural gas production, the United States would be rejecting an important route to jump-starting our sluggish economy. Hopefully, the federal officials who descend on New Orleans today for a public hearing on domestic offshore energy development will promote expanded access to the vast, domestic energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
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In fact, permanently lifting the moratoria on offshore energy production has the potential to generate 1.2 million new jobs, $8 trillion in additional economic output and $2.2 trillion in extra tax receipts nationwide, according to a newly released study from the American Energy Alliance. From the California coast to the Jersey shore, our energy-rich continental shelf houses more than 115 billion barrels of oil, according to the new Minerals Management Service and U.S. Geological Survey report. More than 30 billion of those barrels lie off Louisiana.

Yes, indeed. If I was a resident of a state like, say, California, that was in such dire straits, I'd be on the horn to my legislators yesterday saying, "look at all these jobs, all this revenue that you're passing up! Are you crazy? Or just stupid?" Another good thing about it would be, those of us in places like Texas wouldn't have to deal with the people coming from those states looking for jobs and when they get here trying to make our beloved state more like the benighted shithole they left, with higher taxes and less freedom. Damn leftists and their forked-up priorities.