Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding the Department of Labor’s unemployment report that the U.S. economy lost nearly 216,000 jobs in August, raising the unemployment rate to 9.7 percent:

“With each passing month, it’s becoming increasingly evident that the tax and spend policies of the Obama Administration are failing to create jobs and revive our economy.  And Americans will not find the relief they need while this Administration continues to push through job-killing policies, like the Democrats’ National Energy Tax that will destroy 2.5 million more American jobs. 

“Adding insult to injury, the Obama Administration is also refusing to support legislation that would create millions of new jobs throughout the country.  The Republican American Energy Act would create new green jobs by investing money in renewable energy such as wind, solar and biomass; it would create nuclear jobs by building new nuclear reactors; it would create offshore drilling jobs by moving forward with the 2010 Outer Continental Shelf lease plan; and it would create onshore oil and gas jobs by restoring oil shale leasing.

“In order to get our economy back on track, our country needs a comprehensive, all-of-the-above energy plan that creates ALL types of energy jobs.”

# # #

Print version of this document