Rep. Palazzo to Participate in 2011 Offshore Energy Tour May 19 – 20 in Louisiana
Palazzo also plans to tour Pascagoula Chevron Refinery
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Steven Palazzo (MS-04) today announced that he will participate in the 2011 Offshore Energy Tour with Congressman Steve Scalise (LA) in New Orleans and South Louisiana May 19 – May 20.
Also participating in the 2011 Offshore Energy Tour with Representatives Palazzo and Scalise are: Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (MI), Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (KY), Congressman Gene Green (TX), and Congressman Steve Womack (AR).
“One man has stood in the way of jump starting our economy and saving 12,000 offshore jobs. That man is the President and Americans are frustrated each time they fill their tanks with $4 gasoline. Job creators are demanding certainty in the market place to decide whether to reinvest in domestic energy or to take their assets overseas. Since the Administration’s de facto moratorium, we’ve lost 12 oil rigs to countries like Brazil and Egypt because they present a more favorable energy investment environment than the United States of America. Those rigs and the jobs dependent on them won’t simply return. Inaction by this Administration could cause a loss of 24,532 jobs on the gulf coast alone. The Offshore Energy Tour will bring attention to the failed policies of the Obama Administration that is destroying jobs and driving up energy cost,” said Palazzo.
“The 2011 Offshore Energy Tour will be an excellent opportunity to highlight the need to lower gas prices at the pump by promoting safe energy production here at home,” Scalise said. “Gas prices have more than doubled since President Obama took office, and it is clear that his failed policies have contributed to these higher prices while also running thousands of good jobs out of our country. We can strengthen America’s energy security by unlocking our resources here at home in order to decrease our dependence on Middle Eastern oil while creating thousands more American jobs and bringing billions of dollars back to America to pay down our debt. American families know that we cannot achieve energy security by killing energy jobs and handcuffing American energy producers, and this tour will allow Members of Congress from around the country to get a first-hand view of the technology and innovation involved in exploring for energy safely in the deep water.”
“We cannot tolerate the Obama administration policies that lock away critical resources, cause prices to soar, and make us more reliant upon Middle East oil,” said Chairman Upton. “The public demands a visionary approach that maximizes all of our resources and embraces American-made energy. Continued production and offshore exploration in the Gulf of Mexico is especially critical to meeting our nation’s growing energy needs and keeping prices low for families.”
While on the tour, the delegation will meet with stakeholders from the Louisiana energy industry, visit with offshore drilling workers, tour an offshore drilling platform, and participate in boat and aerial tours of the Louisiana coast.
In addition, Representative Palazzo plans to tour the Chevron facility in Pascagoula on Wednesday, May 18. Representative Palazzo will be briefed on the jobs at the facility and the future of the refinery including the status of their $1.5 billion expansion.
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Magnolia Tribune
