API President and CEO Jack Gerard recently addressed the state of the oil and energy industry. His main point centered on the idea energy is necessary to our society, while oil and natural gas are the foundations. In this new year and at the start of this new Congress, Gerard wants to focus on an opportunity to change the national conversation when it comes to energy policy.
"We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to find solutions for many of today's most pressing issues, including creating middle- class jobs, tackling income inequality, ensuring sustained, affordable energy for consumers and enhancing our national security," Gerard said while addressing the state of American energy. "And for all of these goals and others, the 21st-century American energy renaissance offers solutions."
Gerard reiterated our global community will need more energy. Oil and natural gas will continue to be the dominant source of the earth's energy for decades to come. The only question up for debate is which nations will help meet future energy demands.
"The ongoing American oil and natural gas development and refining renaissance has made it clear the United States can help meet that need," Gerard stated. "But to achieve that goal, we need smart pro-growth energy policies that promote safe and responsible energy development and recognize the central role that fossil fuels will play in meeting future energy demand."
Re-examining the regulatory onslaught of the past few years, Gerard proposed our industry work to implement smart energy regulations that focus on the consumer, help to grow our economy, protect workers and continue to improve the environment. It is his view regulations that do not align with those basic and commonsense goals should be re-examined, revised or removed to make way for smarter future energy policies.
"Just imagine what the industry could do to further benefit consumers, the economy and the environment if more of that energy were available for responsible and safe domestic production," Gerard said. "Just think about how many more people in developing countries could have access to cleaner-burning North American natural gas or benefit from the cleaner-burning fuels produced by American refiners and what this could mean for the environment."
As Gerard looked to the oncoming Congress and Trump administration, he hoped they would take notice of the American energy sector's record of success and commitment to safety and choose collaboration with industry, saying a market-based approach is always focused on what's best for consumers as its guiding policy principle.
"We know we need more energy, but we haven't seen any meaningful expansion of offshore access in decades. We know we need to expand energy infrastructure to keep pace with our new energy reality and deliver affordable energy to families and businesses," Gerard explained. "Government decisions and red tape are obstructing energy infrastructure projects -- and the good jobs they create -- even for projects that have successfully completed exhaustive approval processes."
Gerard hopes to broaden the common consensus and spur our lawmakers to harness the American voters' embrace of energy policies that drive economic growth, lower consumer costs, continue current environmental improvement, increase American competitiveness and provide allies with a reliable partner that uses its considerable energy resources as a way to lift people up.
"It is our hope that the incoming administration and incoming Congress will, like many pro-energy states, embrace our nation's potential as a global energy leader and work with the industry to ensure consumer demand is met and to help ensure that America's 21st-century renaissance will continue to deliver the economic opportunity and environmental benefits for many years to come," Gerard said. "For the first time in our lifetime, we can now say North America has the potential to become a net energy exporter. That's a revolutionary change, a significant shift from where we were just a few short years ago." As Gerard encourages everyone to look at the future, the oil and natural gas industry stands ready to offer solutions that help meet the energy needs of the nation and the world.
For more information, visit www.api. org or call (202) 682-8000.
