The Impact of the Senseless Gulf Drilling Ban: a $4B Economic Hit, Tens of Thousands of Lost Jobs and More Gold-Plated Ferraris for the Sheikhs

Thanks to The Oil Drum, we have a good sense of the economic damage President Obama's ill-advised drilling moratorium has inflicted upon the Gulf. Obama had ordered work halted on 33 exploratory wells in the Gulf -- for no apparent reason given BP's seeming lock on safety violations in the region.

Direct Impact for 6-month moratorium:
$2.43B Rigs and tenders
$1.45B Wages
$0.22B Lost taxes and fees
$4.11B Total

The suspension of exploratory drilling means that the 33 floating drill rigs, which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per day to lease, will be idled for six months or more. Some are leaving the area, never to return.

Nearly a third of the country's domestically produced oil and 10% of the nation's natural gas comes from the Gulf.

The other impact: more of America's cash sent to the Middle East to fund all sorts of delightful activities. Useful sorts of luxury items like this gold-plated Ferrari 599 GTB from Hamann.

The Democrats talk incessantly of energy independence, but their decades-long rejection of America's vast domestic resources reflects the hypocrisy of their position. Until someone comes up with a wind-car or a solar-mobile, we're going to need gaso-freaking-line.

And we'll be buying more gold-plated Ferraris for the Sheikhs unless the Democrat Party decides to permit Americans to drill.