1. OIL AND GAS:
Critics challenge claim that offshore bill will create 1M+ jobs
A Republican plan to open new areas of the Atlantic, Pacific, Alaskan and Gulf coasts to oil and gas drilling is unlikely to create more than a million jobs as claimed by GOP party leaders, according to a comparison between the bill and the study on which the jobs number is based. And critics of H.R. 3410 from Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) -- which is part of a three-bill energy package Republicans said will raise new revenue for highways -- say the jobs claims are based on speculative estimates of how much oil and gas is available off the nation's shores and the industry's willingness to retrieve it.