While Obama plans to wax lyrical about his great love for all things domestic energy in his campaign speech at Buckley Air Force Base today, the facts spell out a different reality for energy production in the American West. A study last week released by the American Petroleum Institute (PDF) demonstrates that rather than help increase domestic energy production, and thereby lower energy prices, leases on federal lands have plummeted under the Obama administration.
But, wait. We thought the President touted an eight-year high for oil production in the United States in the State of the Union.
Turns out that increased oil production has nothing to do with Obama. It's coming from non-federal lands, over which Obama has very little influence.
Take North Dakota for example. From 2008 to 2010, oil production doubled on non-federal lands, while production on federal lands fell.
On federal lands, the area where administration policy has the greatest impact, leases, permits and wells are all down since Obama took office.
Leases on federal lands in the American West are down 44%, permits are down 39% and wells are also down by 39%, when comparing 2007/8 levels to 2009/10 levels.
This makes a big difference to employment and jobs in Colorado, as 36.6% of Colorado is federal land.
API estimates that by returning to 2007/8 levels — pre-Obama — that 30,000 jobs can be created and federal revenue would rise $2 billion.
In Colorado, that would mean 4,700 new jobs by 2015, with an additional $54 million in the state government's coffers. In a state where 17 counties have unemployment surpassing 19.5%, many in areas that would benefit greatly from increased energy production on federal land, you would think that would be a priority.
Maybe that doesn't bother Obama. He just killed the Keystone XL pipeline after succumbing to political pressure from his left wing enviro allies, which would have created 20,000 jobs.
After Obama axed that project, Democrat Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) said "twenty thousand jobs is really not that many jobs."
Does President Obama think 30,000 jobs in the American West and 4,700 jobs in Colorado is not that many jobs? How many jobs would Obama have to kill before it became too much?
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