GOP Senatorial candidate takes on Obama's efforts to kill off shale gas and oil jobs

Josh Mandel, Ohio's Treasurer, Iraqi War veteran (who voluntarily re-upped for a second mission), and Republican Senatorial candidate, takes on Barack Obama and his administration's efforts to stop development of Ohio's vast shale oil and gas reserves. The administration's Department of Agriculture has decided to "suspend" the auction of leases for oil and shale gas drilling on more than 3000 acres of federal land in one of the most economically depressed areas of Ohio.

Mandel writes in the Wall Street Journal: 

You might be asking yourself: Why would Washington block drilling in Ohio at the same time that Ohio manufacturers are adding jobs to support the state's growing oil and gas exploration? Thousands of middle-class families and out-of-work Ohioans are asking that same question.

Perhaps the most accurate answer is found in a statement by the president of the Laborers' International Union of North America after the Obama administration's recent decision to delay the Keystone XL pipeline. "The administration chose to support environmentalists over jobs," Terry O'Sullivan said. "Job-killers win, American workers lose."

One might think that American anger with the Keystone decision would have made the White House avoid blocking more jobs. Yet, on Nov. 15, five days after it delayed Keystone, the administration again sided with radical special interests over blue-collar workers...

Adding to the public outrage here is the position taken by Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who this week announced his support of the federal government's job-killing decision. Even though the vilification of Ohio's abundant coal, oil and gas disproportionately hurts jobs and energy prices here, Mr. Brown has chosen to side with Washington bureaucrats and fringe extremists in the attacks on our natural resources.　

Readers of American Thinker will appreciate our respect for Mr. Mandel's views. Various authors on our site have been critical of the administration's efforts to derail development of our rich resources of shale gas and oil. One might peruse one of my columns on this topic: Cheap Natural gas and its Democratic Enemies for a primer on how Barack Obama and his allies are trying to thwart development of America's most promising resource. Lately, his Environmental Protection Agency has thrown a roadblock in plans to 　tap our own domestic supplies of cheap energy. Whatever it takes seems to be the guiding principle of the administration and its allies in Congress -- including Sherrod Brown. Whatever it takes to make us more dependent on unstable and expensive sources of energy coming from overseas adversaries; not whatever it takes to increase American prosperity. A phalanx of government agencies (the Department of Interior, the EPA, The Department of Agriculture) has been unleashed to stop progress.

These actions are not only meant to cater to the environmental but also are geared towards artificially boosting the prospects of renewable energy while adding to the fortunes of those Democratic (and Barack Obama) 　donors who are behind these "green" ventures (among them, George Soros).

While these green special interests are served, the futures of those who would have been able to land high-paying jobs in the booming shale gas/new oil sector are ignored; they do not even appear to be on the radar screen of the administration. Of course, through the miracle of the multiplier effect, the boom would spread beyond the oil and gas workers themselves to include steel makers, machinery builders, retailers, restaurant workers, and all the ancillary business that would ride the wave of the boom. Furthermore, heating bills for consumers would fall, as they have for other regions that have been able to tap their shale resources. The state budgets would be replenished with revenues and taxes derived from the development.

The latest buzz word among Democrats is "income inequality." The jobs in the oil and gas sector are high-paying jobs with bright futures; these jobs would go a long way in helping to ameliorate income inequality. But as we have been reading recently, the Obama campaign seems to have all but written off blue-collar workers as not worth their time or energy to court. Instead, high profile campaign events feature hedge-fund managers, the glitterati who preen as being "green," and promoters of the range of renewable energy ventures that are failing with the same rapidity as they took taxpayer money in the last three years.

Josh Mandel is one of the most promising leaders in our political landscape. I first wrote about him for American Thinker back in 2008 and have been following his ascent for the past three years. The Weekly Standard had a superb article on Josh a few months ago (From Iraq to the Senate: Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel takes on Sherrod Brown) . As Kate Havard wrote, "Mandel looks maybe half of his 33 years, but he's already accomplished more in this decade-long career in public service than many politicians have in a lifetime". He has become a favorite of many Republicans around the nation and was recently endorsed by Senator Jim De Mint.

He has a lot more to accomplish in the years ahead and, hopefully, voters in Ohio will agree come November 6^th.

To learn more about Josh Mandel check out his website, joshmandel.com