The Economic Cost of a Moratorium on Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration to the Gulf Region
- Over 8,000 jobs lost in the Gulf Coast region
- Over 12,000 jobs lost across the country.
- $700 million in lost wages due to the moratorium.
- $2.1 billion in economic activity lost in the Gulf Coast region and nearly $2.7 billion lost nationwide.
Today, in New Orleans, ground zero of this economic disaster, we released a new study titled “The Economic Cost of a Moratorium on Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration to the Gulf Region.” The economic analysis, conducted by Hermann Moyse Jr./Louisiana Bankers Association endowed professor of banking at Louisiana State University Dr. Joseph Mason, shows how this administration’s moratorium is causing a massive jobs spill out of the Gulf region. Click here to view the paper.
The results of this study are just the beginning. If the moratorium is extended beyond six months, these numbers could double – or worse.
This massive spill of jobs is in stark contrast to what we heard from the White House at the beginning of the year. In his ‘State of the Union’ address, President Obama remarked, “jobs must be our number one priority in 2010.” He continued, “people are out of work. They are hurting. They need our help.”
Since that January speech, the national unemployment rate has hovered at or above 9.5%.
Hurricane Katrina, the BP Oil Spill, and most recently the offshore drilling moratorium have devastated the defiant Gulf Region. Each catastrophe has been overwhelming in its own right, but our newest study shows that the moratorium may cause a job spill that can’t be capped for the Gulf Region.
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