WASHINGTON, D.C., April 6, 2011 - Today, during the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee hearing on Chairman Doc Hastings’ three bills to expand offshore energy production, Dr. Joseph Mason, economist and professor at Louisiana State University, stated that Hastings’ bills will have “substantial job benefits" - creating 250,000 jobs short-term during the exploration and development phase, and 1.2 million jobs long-term during the production phase.
Hank Danos, President of Danos and Curole Marine Contractors, Inc., testified that since the Administration’s moratorium on drilling in the Gulf was put in place his company has had to let go 200 people, noting: “the jobs had faces attached to each one." He also discussed the positive impacts Hastings’ bills will have on job creation in the Gulf.
