The Louisiana Economic Outlook predicts a sunnier job forecast for2010 and 2011, though the good news didn’t come without caveats.
Among the most discussed findings in the report is the “oil patch”areas of Louisiana — areas where the energy extraction industry, likeoil drilling, plays a large role in local economies — will continueto suffer setbacks because of proposed energy taxes by PresidentBarack Obama.
“All they had to do is propose [an oil tax],” said Loren Scott,professor emeritus of economics and one author of the report. “As long asthat’s hanging out there over the industry, you’re not going to havegrowth in the oil patch of the state.”
The Louisiana Environment Action Network said this “gloom and doom”reaction to environmental regulation is nothing new.
“Scott can declare gloom and doom, but I haven’t seen that in the last20 years,” said Kathy Wascom, legislative liason for LEAN. “I’ve seena lot of innovation.”
Wascom questioned the scope of the report, preferring instead to seean analysis of the cost of pollution rather than the cost of solutionsto try and fix it.
“We don’t really have any economists doing the cost of pollution on acommunity,” Wascom said.
 
—-Contact Nate Monroe at [email protected]