Responding to today’s report the national unemployment rate had risen to 9.6 percent in August, President Obama made a statement at the White House expressing concern about joblessness. He then continued:

But I want all Americans to remind themselves there are better days ahead. Even after this economic crisis, our markets remain the most dynamic in the world. Our workers are still the most productive. We remain the global leader in innovation, in discovery, in entrepreneurship.

That’s right, and the President’s reminder is useful as context and reassurance.

Still, the statement must clank painfully against the ears of all the people who are out of work or who face the loss of their jobs because of Administration policies on energy, specifically the moratorium on deepwater drilling, and the proposals in Congress to raise taxes on the oil and gas industry. On Wednesday, about 5,500 people, including a heavy representation of energy workers, workers, turned out for “Rally for Jobs” events in held in Houston, Port Arthur and Corpus Christi to protest those policies.

As Jack Gerard, President of the American Petroleum Institute, observed, “Today energy citizens in Texas sent a clear signal to Congress that lawmakers should focus their efforts on reviving our economy and creating more jobs. U.S. unemployment is high and Americans are increasingly concerned about the slow pace of economic recovery.” That message certainly resonates even more today with the latest unemployment report.

API has put together a video report on the Wednesday’s rallies at the EnergyTommorow blog, “Energy Workers Fight for Their Jobs.” More events are scheduled next week in Canton, Ohio, Farmington, N.M., and Joliet, Ill.

The drilling moratorium’s toll on jobs continues to add up. The 33 drilling platforms support between 800 to 1,400 workers each – offshore and on.  This means that as many as 46,200 jobs could be idled by the moratorium in the short term. If a moratorium carries forward, API estimates the loss of jobs could reach 120,000 by 2014. And of course, the economic activity that normally flows through local communities is stifled. (For more figures, see this report from the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association.)

With the moratorium, it’s as if the Administration is saying: “Jobs. JOBS! Just not those jobs.”

But wasn’t there another rig fire on Thursday? Doesn’t that prove the need for a moratorium?

Only if the standard is the impossible to meet “no risk, ever.” As Charlotte Randolph, president of the Lafourche, La., Parish and an outspoken critic of the moratorium, told The Associated Press, the outcome of Thursday’s platform fire proved that the oil and gas industry practices effective safety procedures: “The people were safely recovered. The oil did not spill. It’s everything the Deepwater Horizon was not.”

The American Petroleum Institute and Newsweek magazine sponsored a panel discussion Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol, “Climate and Energy Policy: Moving?” Moderated by Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, the forum proved a good opportunity to hear from policymakers — Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) — as well as Jack Gerard, head of the API.

The transcript of the discussion has now been posted here. We especially appreciated Jack’s calm and fact-filled presentation on the economic importance of the energy industry and the potential harm that would come from passing cap-and-trade legislation. In responding to Rep. Markey defense of Waxman-Markey, Gerard argued:

The Chairman identified his bill as market-oriented. We believe it’s anything but. In fact, that bill has already picked the winners and the losers. Unfortunately, those who consume fuels in this country like gas, diesel, et cetera, are the clear losers. We’re held accountable, responsible for 44 percent of all emissions and given 2 percent of the allowances.

Who do you think is going to bear the cost of the bill at the end of the day? And that’s why the vast majority of all economic analyses point out that we’re probably close to 2 million jobs being lost in this country as a result of the bill. We don’t believe it’s market-oriented at all.

Secondarily, consumer-focused. Same point. If you’re imposing tremendous burden on the consumers, where you’re driving their gasoline price, estimates based on EIA data, governmental data, will drive it close to $5 a gallon in the current marketplace. We believe that’s excessive and it hurts consumers.

Last point, job creator. …Every major economic analysis of the House-passed bill shows job destruction. Some are as high as multi-millions. We don’t think this bill is a job creator. We believe it’s far from it, and we believe that’s one of the key reasons why we really need to reset. Look at all the great ideas that many have, including the Chairman, and come back with a new start to get us someplace with an energy policy and a climate policy that can be integrated and work for the United States.

The one odd point about the 90-minute discussion is no one raised the issue of Climategate, that is, the documents from the Climatic Research Unit of East Anglia University that show a politicization and manipulation of research used to promote cap-and-trade legislation. Seems like an important element in a policy debate. But then, the major media have also been less than diligent in tackling the scandal.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, and a sponsor of the House-passed cap-and-trade legislation, participated in a good public discussion yesterday at the Capitol sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute and Newsweek magazine.

Given the astonishing expansion of natural gas  in the United States thanks to hydrofracturing and directional drilling making shale deposits accessible, it was encouraging to hear Chairman Markey’s comments in support of its development.

Rep. Ed Markey: Ninety percent of all new electrical capacity in America since 1990 has been natural gas, and it’s going to continue on that way as a base load with the new mandates for renewable electricity in the states having a higher percentage increasingly coming from that source. But natural gas is going to do very well in the future, and the discoveries from the Marcellus Shale all the way through Barnett, that is all the way from New York down to Texas, are going to be big source of new electrical generation.

Howard Fineman, Newsweek: As a native of Pittsburgh, I’m really excited about the Marcellus Shale. I’m hoping maybe there’s some under my relative’s land. (laughter)

Here’s the sound clip.

That was just one exchange in a solid 90-minute program. API’s Jack Gerard was especially effective in detailing the many problems with the cap-and-trade legislation, starting with its destruction of jobs. He said it was time for “a reset” in Congress on climate legislation, a sound sentiment.