Today, the preliminary results of Central Gulf Lease Sale 213, held in New Orleans, were announced.

The sale received 642 bids on 468 leases--34 percent higher than last year's Central Gulf Lease Sale 208--and garnered $949 million in high bids, up from $703 million in last year's sale.

The oil and natural gas industry stands ready to invest in America and create additional new jobs, as evidenced by its strong bidding during the Central Gulf 213 lease sale, in which the industry was able to bid on parcels in several new areas. The sale captured $949 million in high bids, contributing to energy and economic security.

The U.S. government could replicate this success by providing leasing opportunities in unexplored areas of the Outer Continental Shelf--like offshore Virginia, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off Alaska.

Allowing new leasing, a move supported by 63 percent of Americans, according to recent polling by the Pew Center, could help rejuvenate the struggling American economy, bringing in much-needed government revenues, creating new jobs and providing the energy we need for future economic growth.

This is approach is highly preferable to taxing the industry, which could stifle energy production, revenues and job growth.