Jason Brown
Advocate Acadiana
7/21/2010
LAFAYETTE — Thousands attended a rally in Lafayette Wednesday aimed at convincing the Obama administration to lift the federal offshore drilling moratorium, which officials said could further endanger the state through the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.
The “Rally for Economic Survival” was held at the Cajundome and drew about 11,000 people, some dressed in their oil industry uniforms, others in shirts bearing messages of “Drill Baby Drill” and “No Moratorium.”
The event attracted national media attention and featured elected leaders from the local, state and federal level.
Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle served as master of ceremonies and fired up an already lively crowd, proclaiming that “it is time to quit punishing innocent American workers to achieve some unrealistic political agenda.”
Gov. Bobby Jindal, one of 12 speakers at the two-hour event, pleaded with President Barack Obama to “let our people work.”
The rally was in opposition to the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to temporarily block deep-water drilling in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion.
“We’re in the middle of a war to defend our way of life,” Jindal said, adding that the state and its people shouldn’t also have to fight the federal government.
He said the moratorium is bad for the country’s energy security and bad for the economy.
The article continues at the Advocate.
Read also Rally for Economic Survival.
It was standing room only in Lafayette Louisiana’s Cajundome as the 15,000-20,000 people assembled for the Rally for Economic Survival. Attendees called for common sense action by the federal government to lift the moratorium and send them back to work.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal fired the crowd up and said that Louisianans “don’t want a check from BP, and don’t want an unemployment check from the federal government”. Instead he noted that Louisianans just want to “go back to work”.
Lt. Governor Scott Angelle highlighted the important role that oil and natural gas play in the U.S. economy. He said, from 2005 to2007, the oil and gas industry paid $222 billion in taxes and $23 million in mineral royalties. Angelle told the workers that they’re not only “helping find energy to fuel America”, but helping to “produce the revenue to pay the taxes so America can educate, medicate, rehabilitate and if all else fails, incarcerate.”…
H/T both articles Michelle Malkin, Pushing Back: Thousands of Obama’s drilling moratorium victims rally in La.
Update: HotAir.com has this article, Excellent: Jindal rallies Louisianans to oppose the feds’ drilling moratorium
