- \n
<\/dt>\n- Associated Press<\/dd>\n
- Virginia Gov. elect Bob McDonnell is a driller.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
But it turns out his oil-drilling-brings-economic-development argument rests on some threadbare data.<\/p>\n
First, a recap: The Virginia gubernatorial election turned in large part on a major difference in the candidate\u0092s energy platforms<\/a>. GOP candidate Mr. McDonnell was a drill, baby, driller, while the sitting Democratic Gov. Timothy Kaine wanted to proceed with caution. <\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Mr. McDonnell kept up his call for the federal government to clear the way for drilling off the Virginia coast in a letter to Interior Sec. Salazar<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\u0093Virginia stands ready to help address America\u0092s energy needs while creating badly needed good-paying jobs for our citizens,\u0094 he wrote, asking the federal government \u0093move forward\u0094 with a lease sale for offshore oil and gas exploration. (The oil industry applauded the letter enthusiastically<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
But what\u0092s the proof that offshore drilling would be an economic boom for the commonwealth? Mr. McDonnell cites the following:<\/p>\n
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A 2005 study by a former president at Old Dominion University forecast that offshore natural gas production alone off of the Atlantic coast near Virginia would, over a 10-year period, likely create at least 2,578 new jobs, induce capital investment of $7.84 billion, yield $644 million in direct and indirect payroll, and result in $271 million in state and local taxes. The study also estimated that there could be up to 500 million barrels of oil in this lease area \u0096 enough to fuel all four million cars in Virginia for more than four years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
An internet search for the study came up blank. Messages with Mr. McDonnell\u0092s transition team seeking to see the study were unreturned. We were dumbfounded until we got an email from James V. Koch<\/a>, the study\u0092s author. <\/p>\n
But he wrote that it wasn\u0092t really a study, at least not in the academic sense. Mr. Koch said he was asked to do a quick look at the issue. Since \u0093I did not have time to parse Virginia\u0092s situation in detail, I examined the experiences of Louisiana and a Canadian province\u0094 and extrapolated. The figures \u0093were very rough estimates\u0094 and the topic would benefit from a detailed, thorough study.<\/p>\n
By the way, even Mr. Koch couldn\u0092t provide us with a copy of the study. It\u0092s not the type of thing he puts on the resume, he said. \u0093That does not suggest the quoted study was somehow deficient, only that it was quick work. I was not painting the Sistine Chapel,\u0094 he said.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell isn\u0092t waiting to get the keys to the mansion to keep up his push to bring offshore drilling to the commonwealth. It would bring sorely needed jobs and tax revenue, he says. Associated Press Virginia Gov. elect Bob McDonnell is a driller. But it turns out his oil-drilling-brings-economic-development argument rests on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":934,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/934"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116834\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Virginia Gov. elect Bob McDonnell is a driller.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n