Marathon Pundit: Post-State of the Union: Obama's attack on oil industry threatens North Dakota prosperity

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Post-State of the Union: Obama's attack on oil industry threatens North Dakota prosperity

"I'm asking Congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies. I don't know if you’ve noticed, but they’re doing just fine on their own." President Obama's 2011 State of the Union address.

As I've written many times in this space, Louisiana businesses are suffering because of the de facto moratorium on issuing new drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico.

Could North Dakota be next?

Say Anything, a North Dakota blog, remarks that the oil boom there has allowed the Peace Garden State to escape the recession. Oil means jobs.

From that blog:

One constant damper on the national economy is the government’s push back against the production of cheap energy from fossil fuels, including oil. Not only does this drive energy prices needlessly higher, it kills all the jobs these oil companies create. Increasing taxes on oil companies is only going to drive fuel and energy prices even higher, and kill more jobs in the energy sector.

Here in North Dakota we are having a statewide debate about simplifying our state-level oil extraction tax. It's something former Governor Ed Schafer has been touring the state pushing. With Obama clearly intent on pushing for punishing new taxes on the oil industry at the national level, North Dakotans should think long and hard about defending the oil industry in our state and all the job-creation, prosperity and tax revenues it has been driving.