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More news from the Obama administration's war on business and energy...
Investors Business Daily is reporting (via HotAir) that the Obama administration is standing in the way of Exxon's discovery of up to a billion barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. It is estimated that the discovery could create up to 190,000 jobs and raise up to $10 billion in taxes and royalties for the US government.
But the Obama administration is hiding behind a technicality to prevent Exxon from drilling. Exxon is fighting back:
Exxon is now fighting the permit action in a federal court in Lake Charles, La., calling it "arbitrary," "capricious" and "an abuse of law." It's also a textbook case of the anti-business climate fostered by the Obama administration which should be bending over backward to help Exxon create jobs and profits.Given the Obama administration's recent setback in Wyoming district court, there is some hope that Exxon might win the case. But the economic uncertainty created by these sorts of actions can't be measured.
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It's a sorry spectacle to see Exxon — which willingly endured the risk, put in vast infusions of investment capital, sent out brave men to watery no-man's land to drill, and invested massive amounts in R&D — lose its entire operation over a petty permit dispute.
Exxon believes it can win its case in court, but the effects of such bureaucratic plunder will spread a message — that anyone who succeeds in striking black gold will become a government target.
The chilling effect will mean oil companies hiding their successes from the greedy eyes of regulators, just as explorers hid their maps from pirates centuries ago. It's what can turn ages of exploration into dark ages.
Source: Investors Business Daily
