Today's study by Quest Offshore Resources estimates that total employment supported by theGulf of Mexicooil and natural gas industry by 2013 could exceed 430,000 jobs -- growth that would represent an increase of 77 percent, or 180,000 jobs, over the low levels of 2010 when the shallow-water permitting slow-down and deepwater moratorium first brought activity in the Gulf to its knees.

The study's projected employment growth is contingent upon the ability of BOEMRE regulators to resume the timely and efficient permitting process last seen pre-Macondo. In other words, failure to improve the government's offshore permitting process will leave jobs on the table and economic activity bottled up at a time that the country is scrambling to create new jobs and stimulate growth.

It is hard to understand why the Administration would not act decisively to seize the benefits of an improved permitting process. As the Quest study reveals, thousands of good-paying jobs are literally on hold in the Gulf thanks to the government's regulatory sluggishness. The Gulf is also poised to make a major contribution to America's energy security for years to come, but only if the regulatory climate improves.

This is low-hanging fruit for the Obama administration -- substantial job growth and economic improvement that benefits America's energy security is within reach. All that is needed is to fix the permitting process in the Gulf right now.