LSU Professor Warns Senate Committee of Detrimental Energy, Tax Policies

White House tax proposal would further burden Americans already economically crippled by drilling moratorium, recession

WASHINGTON, July 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following this month’s release of his economic analysis of the Obama administration’s moratorium on exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, LSU Banking Chair and nationally renowned economist Joseph Mason testified today before the Senate Small Business Committee. In the first six months alone, Dr. Mason’s study found the drilling ban will cost Americans 12,000 jobs, $2.8 billion in economic activity, $98 million in forfeited state tax revenues in the Gulf region, and $220 million in federal tax revenue. Since the moratorium and/or its effects could last up to a year and half, these relatively conservative figures could, realistically, increase by a factor of 2 or 3.

In his testimony, Mason also addressed proposed tax changes for the oil and gas sector which would greatly increase the costs of overseas activity, placing American companies at a competitive disadvantage:

“This political rhetoric stirred up by the BP disaster is creating a perfect storm that could doom the nation’s energy industry and cost our nation tens of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in economic activity, and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue. We’re already seeing an air of caution among prospective investors and any further action that would eliminate energy sector jobs, raise energy prices, and threaten the future of the energy industry would cause long-term harm to our nation. 

“Although we’re all concerned with the environmental consequences of the BP spill, we cannot allow that concern to translate into short-sighted government policies that would have a much worse consequence on our nation as a whole.

“With each passing day, the administration’s moratorium on energy exploration in the Gulf of Mexico costs the region more jobs. The longer the moratorium continues, the greater the risk that these jobs won’t come back. It’s especially tragic that the negative economic impact of this action is harming a region that is still fighting to recover from the recent disasters of Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav, and Ike.”

Dr. Mason’s report was sponsored by Save U.S. Energy Jobs – a project of the American Energy Alliance – a free market energy advocacy organization. To learn more and get exclusive information on upcoming projects, follow Save U.S. Energy Jobs on Twitter and Facebook.

Founded in May, 2008, The American Energy Alliance (“AEA”) is a not-for-profit organization that engages in grassroots public policy advocacy and debate concerning energy and environmental policies.  AEA is the advocacy arm of the Institute for Energy Research (IER), a not-for-profit organization – founded in 1989 – that conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets.

SOURCE American Energy Alliance