Perry Rolls Out Energy-Focused Jobs Plan

Texas Governor and GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry unveiled his energy-focused jobs plan Friday, calling for an increase in domestic energy production. 

“My plan is based on these simple premise; Make what Americans buy, buy what Americans make, and sell it to the world,” Perry said. 

In an effort to reinvigorate the buzz over his jobs record, Perry touted his plan as a way to create 1.2 million jobs by taking a drill-baby-drill approach to reducing the nations dependence on foreign oil.  

During his remarks in Pittsburgh, Perry honed in on a popular GOP sentiment; the Environmental Protection Agency is an over-reaching agency whose regulations stifle job growth. One step in his plan includes deregulating the EPA, making room for increased domestic drilling. 

“The quickest way to give our economy a shot in the arm is to deploy American ingenuity to tap American energy,” he said. “But we can only do that if environmental bureaucrats are told to stand down.”

According to Perry, his “Energizing American Jobs and Security” plan would not be subject to a long legislative process in Congress. Instead, the Texas governor said he would implement his plan within the first 100 days of his presidency through a series of executives orders. 

Under Perry’s plan, offshore drilling would be initiated off the Alaskan coast and the Gulf of Mexico would see an increased number of deep sea explorations. Perry also said he would support the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline that would transfer oil from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries. States like Wyoming, New Mexico, North Dakota, Colorado and Utah fall under the Western states Perry argued could produce more energy than America imports from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Venezuela and Russia combined. 

States, however, would be given more power under Perry’s plan. Although he is looking for more cooperation at the state level, Perry also said that each state would reserve the right to oppose these new “energy exploration” efforts.

Now sitting in third place in most national polls, behind former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and pizza mogul Herman GOP, the timing of Perry’s jobs plan couldn’t have come at a more crucial time for his campaign. Romney’s 160-page economic proposal has been out for weeks and Cain’s “9-9-9” tax plan is gaining momentum and attention from the media and other GOP candidates.