Alaska’s Importance to the South
Galveston, Texas, sits on the Gulf of Mexico where roughly 25 percent of our nation’s oil is produced. So, why do we in the South care whether oil is produced in the Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska over 4,000 miles away?
There are several reasons, including:
- Increasing production in Alaska will increase energy supply. Increased energy supply means lower costs to the consumer.
- Precedents set related to drilling off the coast of Alaska could impact the Gulf of Mexico.
The simple fact is, political movements tend to spread and are emboldened by success. Even though offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has existed for many years, the anti-drilling advocates have prevailed in the drilling debate in the Eastern Gulf and it is certainly possible that drilling could be made more difficult, or eliminated in the Western Gulf.
How would a drilling ban in the Western Gulf affect the economy?
The quick answer? Dramatically.
A study conducted by Applied Technology, Inc., concluded that the offshore industry pays more than $500 million in salaries and wages to people working in the Gulf of Mexico. In the state of Louisiana alone, the oil industry employs 320,000 people. That’s roughly 7.5 percent of the state’s population.
A drilling ban in the Western Gulf of Mexico would limit the number of jobs available to people living in the CEA-South region. Fewer jobs equals fewer opportunities for economic growth and lower potential state revenue. A drilling ban would create a domino effect that would affect us all.