Wednesday afternoon, API's President and CEO Jack Gerard delivered
a speech focused on the reality of America's energy policy. Speaking at the
Annual State of the Energy Industry conference sponsored by the United States
Energy Association, Jack laid out the facts about the U.S. oil and natural
industry and its contributions to the economy.
He noted:
•
Oil and natural gas supply 63 percent of the nation's energy and
represent more than $1 trillion of the country's economic activity;
• The industry directly employs or supports 9.2 million American jobs and created 2 million jobs between 2004 and 2007;
• The industry invested more than $58 billion on carbon mitigation
technologies between 2000 and 2008, more than either the federal
government or the rest of private industry combined; and
• Oil and natural companies are investing in alternative energy
and are creating traditional industry jobs as well as green jobs.
Most importantly, Jack explained that the industry could
create thousands of new jobs if American energy policy were aligned
with the needs and desires of the American people:
"They support
developing our plentiful domestic energy resources and believe it can
be done in a way protective of the environment. They value a future
where we take advantage of all forms of energy and not play one against
the other. And they value a future where we encourage domestic
development to generate the jobs that will put them to work as well as
supply the energy to help secure our economy, allowing it to thrive in
the years and decades ahead."
The full text of the speech is available
here.