'Vote 4 Energy' campaign targets 'onslaught of regulations'
Washington -- The nation's top oil and gas advocacy group unveiled a "Vote 4 Energy" campaign Wednesday to put an election-year focus on domestic oil and gas production. Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, said the campaign won't pick sides or endorse candidates as America elects a president and new Congress. But the campaign will advocate an end to the "onslaught of regulations" he said make it harder for the United States to become more energy-independent, positions generally supported by congressional Republicans and GOP presidential candidates.
Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum InstituteIn what was billed as a "State of American Energy" speech, Gerard said if the industry is allowed to develop more oil and gas reserves, both onshore and offshore, and alternative energy sources are advanced, America can become largely energy-independent by 2026.
A friendlier federal regulatory environment, Gerard said, would create American jobs, create revenue for both federal and state governments and strengthen national security.
"It's going to take more than tweaking current policies at the margins," Gerard said in a speech delivered at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. "It's going to take a course correction."
Gerard said a key issue for the industry is the 1,700-mile Keystone Pipeline project, which would carry 700,000 barrels per day from Canadian oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries. Congressional Republicans passed a measure requiring Obama to decide the issue in the next 60 days rather than delay a decision, as he had advocated, until after the November elections.
If Obama accedes to environmentalists and turns down the project, Gerard said, the president would face "huge political consequences" as he runs for re-election. The project is supported by industry and unions, who cite the job-creation benefits, but opposed by environmental groups who raise concerns about contamination of vital water supplies.
Asked whether Americans would be sympathetic to the new industry campaign given the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Gerard said support for drilling is actually higher today than it was before the spill. He would not say how much the new Vote 4 Energy campaign will cost, but said the industry will "make a significant investment" in TV, newspaper and social media advertising and advocacy.
Outside the Newseum, representatives of Greenpeace handed out brochures suggesting that the American Petroleum Institute seriously overstates American support for drilling while fighting to retain tax loopholes that contribute to the industry's record profits.
Anne Rolfes, founding director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, said the industry is misleading Americans when it suggests that regulations lead to fewer jobs.
"What we know is that when you enforce laws on the oil sector, the industry has to hire more people and invest in more equipment and that is good for the economy," Rolfes said.
Bruce Alpert can be reached at balpert@timespicayune.com or 202.450.1406.