If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a billboard covered with thousands of signatures worth?

This billboard, overlooking I-10 in Louisiana, is covered with the signatures of the estimated 11,000 people who attended the Rally for Economic Survival at the Cajundome. Many were energy workers whose jobs are threatened by the drilling moratorium. Others are Gulf Coast residents who support oil patch activities and depend on the energy business for their livelihoods.

At the hearing on drilling safety in New Orleans yesterday, Louisiana Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle delivered an impassioned speech about the moratorium's impact on the Gulf Coast community. "It's about JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!" he said.

"Jobs will be affected not only on the rigs--but also in the service industries--the welders,... more »

Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM), refused to give a date for ending the offshore drilling moratorium yesterday. In New Orleans at the first of eight public hearings on drilling safety, Bromwich only said "there will be a very serious, sustained effort" to shorten the moratorium. (AP)

API's Holly Hopkins attended the hearing and reported that many speakers supported a swift end to the administration's drilling freeze:

• Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) argued that BOEM is not being efficient in issuing shallow-water drilling permits and isn't adequately addressing the need for the moratorium;

• David Camardelle, the mayor of Grand Isle, recalled that President Obama said he would end the moratorium when the well was capped. No oil... more »

As we've mentioned on this blog many times, energy development is a primary driver of job creation. Developing the nation's abundant oil and natural gas resources could create tens of thousands of additional jobs.

A new Gallup poll proves this point and demonstrates that energy-producing states are among the best in job creation.

North Dakota has been breaking oil production records and sits atop Gallup's Job Creation Index. The Index also shows that the "energy-producing states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas are in the top 10 state job markets for the first half of 2010, as they were in 2008 and 2009."

Alaska, another state where energy development is crucial, made the list in addition to Pennsylvania and West Virginia--two states that saw 57,000 new jobs last year from Marcellus Shal... more »

The effects of the six-month deepwater drilling moratorium are becoming manifest along the Gulf Coast. Published reports say rig hands in-training are abandoning plans to work in the offshore energy industry and are looking for jobs in the cleanup effort.

"There's jobs doing everything down there right now: Crew boats, tug boats, heavy equipment. Whatever best offer I get is where I will start off," said trainee Rodney Phillips. (AP)

The halt in deepwater drilling and the oil spill not only promise to disrupt the... more »

Just 10 miles off the coast of Louisiana, a New Orleans company has made one of the largest Gulf of Mexico energy discoveries in decades. McMoRan Exploration Co. reports that its ultra-deep well in its Davy Jones prospect was drilled in shallow water--only 20 feet deep--down to more than 28,000 feet beneath the ocean floor where the company found huge amounts of natural gas in a 135-feet thick sand formation.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the size of the discovery ranges from 2 trillion to 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. And it's believed the discovery will encourage more exploration in shallow waters close to shore where drilling has been occurring for nearly 100 years.

President of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association Don Briggs told The Times-Picayune that there's an incorre... more »