Energy is All Around the Holidays

Mark Green
Posted December 22, 2016

Remember the opening to the 2003 holiday flick “Love Actually,” when aging rocker Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) struggles to substitute seasonal lyrics in The Troggs’ 1967 hit, “Love is All Around”:

“I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes;

love Christmas is all around me, and so the feeling grows …”

This being an energy blog, we got to thinking about that song and how you could put the “E” word in place of “love” and have yourself a pretty good tune.

OK, maybe not.

Still, the notion of energy all around us is pure gold. Everywhere you go, whatever you do, energy – anchored by abundant U.S. oil and natural gas – is making life warmer, easier, healthier and more enjoyable. Let’s mark the holidays with a look at just a few of the gifts we enjoy, from the energy that’s all around us:

Power

It’s estimated that more than 1.3 billion people around the world lack access to electricity and 2.6 billion live without clean cooking facilities, yet for Americans both are an afterthought. Meanwhile, the U.S. energy renaissance has lowered Americans’ annual energy costs – for electricity, home heating, cooking and more – by more than 14 percent since 2008. Thanks to abundant American energy, largely developed with hydraulic fracturing, U.S. families saved on average $1,337 in 2015 through lower home energy costs and lower costs of goods and services.

Consumers

Everybody feels it when prices at the gasoline pump are up, so let’s all appreciate that lately they’ve headed the other way, as U.S. Energy Information Administration data shows:

Surging domestic oil production is playing a key role in lower global crude oil prices, which is impacting retail prices. Last year Americans saved, on average, more than $550 per licensed driver, AAA reports. Lower fuel costs mean lower driving costs, which helps U.S. households and also manufacturers and businesses that depend on ground transportation to deliver raw materials and finished goods.

Economy

The U.S. oil and natural gas industry supports 9.8 million U.S. jobs and 8 percent of the economy. The refining sector alone supports 1.2 million jobs for high-skilled workers who earn an average annual pay that’s 2.5 times the national average. Increasing access to offshore reserves could create more than 800,000 new jobs and grow the economy by up to $70 billion per year, according to one study. Another projects that oil, natural gas and petrochemical job opportunities will include more than 700,000 positions to be held by African American and Hispanic workers, and nearly 300,000 jobs filled by women by 2035. These are more than numbers. They represent basic economic support for American families.

Environment

Because of abundant natural gas production (thanks, fracking) and its increased domestic use in home heating and electricity generation – this year, for the first time ever, natural gas became the leading fuel for power generation – U.S. carbon emissions from generating electricity were at their lowest levels in more than two decades. Natural gas use also has helped lower ozone concentrations in the air 17 percent since 2000, according to EPA. U.S. refiners have spent more than $150 billion since 1990 on environmental improvements while developing cleaner fuels for our vehicles. Overall, industry has directly invested about $90 billion in zero- and low-emissions technologies since 2000 – almost as much as all of the rest of U.S. industries combined.

Modern living

Oil and natural gas play a big role in so many products that make our lives modern: cellphones, plastic wrap and containers, medicines, health care equipment, synthetic fibers in inner- and outer-wear, the internet, advanced agriculture, entertainment, building materials and more. The list is almost endless. We depend on things made from oil and gas for food, shelter and clothing.

So, whether you feel it in your fingers or toes – or maybe it’s in your pocketbook, closet, pantry or garage – energy is all around, making for a brighter, warmer, more prosperous holiday and every day.

Seasons greetings!