Time to Recognize the Unmistakable Need for American Natural Gas and Oil
Mike Sommers
Posted September 20, 2022
This week’s “high-level” proceedings of the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) are centered on the theme, “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges.” Indeed, leaders gathering for UNGA 77, and all the related policy-shaping events, are justifiably beset by challenges unseen in a generation. The cutoff of Russia’s natural gas to Europe has leaders in that region warning that economies could grind to a “full stop.” But in June, the American Petroleum Institute (API) laid out the “10-in-22” plan to unleash American natural gas and oil at a time of global energy scarcity and insecurity.
No matter which side of the political aisle you choose, API is far from alone in raising the alarm on the need for more supply. Influencers and business titans from across the spectrum have voiced strong support for the essential value of U.S. oil and natural gas. These leading figures have internalized two realities: U.S. oil and natural gas and associated infrastructure provide nearly 70% of America’s energy needs, and projections of growing global energy demand show that oil and natural gas will supply nearly 50 percent of that energy in 2050. Read on for additional insights from a diverse list of prominent thought leaders.
Thomas Friedman, The New York Times:
“I can’t repeat this enough: U.S. energy policy today has to be the arsenal of democracy to defeat petro-Putinism in Europe, by providing desperately needed oil and gas to our allies at reasonable prices so that Putin cannot blackmail them.”
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO:
"Why can't we get it through our thick skulls, that if you want to solve climate [change], it is not against climate [change] for America to boost more oil and gas?”
“At this time, we actually need more oil and gas, not less.”
Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Secretary of Energy:
“In this moment of crisis, we need more supply ... right now, we need oil and gas production to rise to meet current demand.”
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency:
"Now we have an oil crisis, a gas crisis and an electricity crisis at the same time. This energy crisis is much bigger than the oil crises of the 1970s and 1980s. And it will probably last longer.”
Harold Ford Jr., former member of Congress (D-TN):
“The U.S. is blessed with an abundance of oil, natural gas and coal that helped us win World War II and gave our citizens the highest living standards in the world. But American families are paying historically high prices at the pump. Mr. Biden can lead the nation out of this self-imposed energy crisis by returning to the policies favored by his predecessors and by many in our party.”
Wil VanLoh, founder and CEO of Quantum Energy Partners:
"We need to quit just focusing on replacing all hydrocarbons with wind and solar. We’ve got to ask ourselves, ‘What’s practical? What can we really do?’ It’s kind of make-believe to think that we can actually replace three forms of energy [coal, oil and natural gas] this time.”
Washington Post Editorial Board:
“… [P]eople will still need to consume some oil and gas. Ending new leases today would not slash U.S. consumption of fossil fuels; it would, however, transfer the risk of producing them to other countries, including those that have fewer regulations in place to protect oceans, wildlife and people.”
U.S. energy leadership is key to global energy markets. API’s “10 in 2022” plan can unleash American energy and help fuel forward progress for our economy and energy security. Together with the principles laid out in API’s Climate Action Framework, American oil and natural gas can provide solutions for meeting energy demand, here and around the world, while also reducing emissions and building a lower-carbon future.
About The Author
Mike Sommers is the 15th chief executive of API since its founding more than a century ago. Prior to coming to API, Mike led the American Investment Council, a trade association representing many of the nation’s leading private equity and growth capital firms and other business partners. He spent two decades in critical staff leadership positions in the U.S. House of Representatives and the White House, including chief of staff for then-House Speaker John Boehner. Mike is a native of Naperville, Illinois, and a graduate of the honors program at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Mike and Jill Sommers, a former commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, have three children and live in Alexandria, Virginia.