That's what LV Congressman Charlie Dent was told during his trip this week to the Gulf Coast.“What we heard from the various leaders with whom we spoke, is a cry for help. We heard from the fishermen, we heard from small business people, we heard from many individuals who have a personal interest in making sure this economy recovers,” Dent explained. “The one thing we gathered from this, my big take-away, is please don’t let this environmental disaster turn into an economic catastrophe.”
Dr. Joseph R. Mason, an economist and professor at Louisiana State University (LSU) told Dent the current six-month moratorium will cost at least 8,000 jobs in the Gulf region. This number would likely increase dramatically should the moratorium be extended indefinitely.
Dent also spent time discussing the economic impact of the moratorium on small businesses with Leslie Bertucci of R&D Enterprises, a company of 14 full-time employees that provides equipment and machinery to oil producers. Bertucci shared her concerns with the Congressman that a ‘ripple effect’ from the moratorium could devastate countless small businesses in Louisiana like R&D Enterprises, leading to significant job losses.
Bertucci’s concerns were echoed by Bob Brown, Managing Director of the Business Council of New Orleans (BCNO), a collection of business leaders that promote economic opportunities in and around the city of New Orleans, LA. BCNO, along with other southern Louisiana business organizations, have recently called on the Obama Administration to fully consider the economic ramifications of the current moratorium.
The Obama administration is hopeful it can end its moratorium "well before" November 30, when it is currently set to expire.
9 comments:
Oh Bernie, you are so crazy nutz you are almost lovable.
Yeah I can just hear the fisherman who's life has been ruined by a reckless oil company telling Charlie Dent,"Hey Charlie, Drill baby Drill!!!".
Oh God that is great. I bet he also asked Charlie to make Obama show him his birth certificate.
O'Hare you are one of the best in the insane world of chronically unemployed clinically depressed bloggers.
God Bless you son
The moratorium was a punishment more to workers than anyone. Perhaps if Obama didn't accept so much campaign cash from bp they would not have been so reckless.
What would be the economic impact of another Deepwater Horizon spill next year if they don't get all the safety measures worked out? Obviously it would be way worse than a moratorium on drilling. The moratorium is in place for a reason. It's dishonest for Dent to frame the discussion as Moratorium vs. Situation Where Everything is Fine. The alternative is another disaster - for the Gulf and for taxpayers. Since Dent voted with Republicans to prevent the removal of the liability cap, it's Dent's own constituents who would be on the hook if another spill surpasses the ridiculously low $75 million liability. It's unbelievable that after the biggest oil spill of its kind, Dent's top priority is to protect BP.
Mr. Geeting, Obama's moratorium is temporary, and Dent's trip suggests to him that it is having an adverse economic impact on the people there, which will have ripple effect on the rest of us. Obama himself is considering lifting the moratorium asearly as next month precisely because of many of the same concerns raised by Dent. Is Obama protecting BP, too?
Maybe, just maybe, they are both interested in doing what is right for the people.
Dent's an elitist whose been in power too long and is out of touch with the common man.
Wow bernie, aren't you tired of kissing Dent's butt..This issue shouldn't even be debated. Look what the oil spill did to their economy..It happened because no one was reviewing what the hell was being done...Dent can spin this issue in a thousand ways..All it says to me is that he is still in the pocket of the oil companies like the rest of his fellow Republicans..Drill baby, drill!!
This is an anecodal recounting of the impact that the moratorium has had. I don't know how that consititutes kissing anyone's butt. Obama's moratorium is temporary, so it seems to me that both he and Dent are in basic agreement. It's just a question of how temporary.
The president has received more BP money than any politician in DC. He's more about drill-baby-drill than the former oil man.
75% of the oil was captured or dispersed or biodegraded. Let's stop deep water drilling and bring it in to closer, safer, shallow waters. Other countries are already doing this off our shores.
It's time to put people other than the SEIU back to work.
Golly Charlie. Why not just rescind all regulation of oil companies. Get the big bad government off their backs so the captains of industry can be free to drill. After all, its obvious they know what they are doing and gosh I'm sure they will be very careful.
While you are at it, who needs clean air and water. Why not get rid of that burden on industry as well.
Aw shucks Charlie, why not go for the trifecta and abolish all child labor laws. Forget about minimum wage laws, you can carve out an exception for the under 16 labor pool.
Oh Lord hear our prayer. Let your servant Charlie free us all from the yoke of government.
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