Our Roadmap for Energy Leadership and Help in Reducing Inflation

Mark Green
Posted June 20, 2024

Defense wins championships, right? And over the years, API has worked tirelessly to set the record straight on dozens upon dozens of false attacks lobbed against America’s oil and natural gas companies.

There’s a time for offense, too, and API is taking its turn with a new, five-point policy roadmap that shows what our nearly 600 member companies support – to sustain and grow America’s oil and natural gas-based energy advantage.

This is especially important in an election year, in which we’ve already seen our companies and their workers targeted for baseless attacks for political benefit. On a broader level, getting policy right in Washington can make our nation more secure in an often-chaotic world while helping American families and businesses cope with the negative impacts of inflation.

The roadmap’s pillars:

• Leverage America’s abundant oil and natural gas resources
• Reform the federal permitting system
• Protect consumer choice
• Bolster America’s geopolitical strength
• Advance sensible tax policy

API President and CEO Mike Sommers:

“At a time of persistent inflation and geopolitical instability, the American people need more affordable energy and less political gamesmanship. Reliable, affordable energy policy will support American families and businesses in the fight against inflation. Yet misguided policies and heavy-handed regulations, particularly over the past four years, threaten to undermine our existing energy advantage, potentially increasing costs and jeopardizing a key pillar of American leadership.”

All of the roadmap’s components are important and connected because, collectively, they help strengthen America’s energy advantage, which is the envy of the world. Let’s take a closer look.

Harness abundant oil and natural gas

• The U.S. has the industry, technology and expertise to use vast domestic oil and natural gas resources.
• Oil and natural gas are the leading energy sources to power America’s economy – transportation, home heating and cooking, and the manufacturing of countless consumer products that are staples of modern life.
• Record-breaking American energy production helps control energy-related costs to families and businesses – even as inflation has greater impacts on the costs of food, health care, education and other necessities.

Biden administration policies have not strengthened American oil and natural gas, especially when you think about the country’s future energy needs. For example, the administration’s five-year offshore oil and natural gas leasing program is the weakest program ever proposed and could increase America’s dependence on foreign sources. Likewise, overly burdensome oil and natural gas regulation complicates production and makes it more costly.

Permitting reform

• Infrastructure to take energy from where it is produced to where it is needed, safely and efficiently, is a key factor in energy availability and in controlling costs.
• America must be able to build needed infrastructure of all kinds, not just oil and natural gas projects.

Yet, the federal permitting system is broken, and it is hindering progress. For example, project reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act take an average of four and a half years to complete. The system must be overhauled and simplified by Washington.

Protect the vehicle freedoms of Americans

• There are about 260 million passenger gasoline- and diesel-fueled vehicles on the road today, compared to only 3 million electric vehicles (EVs).
• The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that there will be about 269 million internal combustion engine vehicles on America’s roads in 2050, along with 47 million battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles (about 15%).

Against that backdrop, the Biden administration is using regulation – EPA’s tailpipe emissions rule and new fuel-economy standards – to force automakers to produce more EVs and push Americans to buy them.

Consumers need more freedom, not less, when it comes to deciding which vehicles they will drive.

EVs are an important part of America’s future transportation mix, but they are not for everyone, and they are not the only way to reduce sector emissions. Americans’ ability to select vehicles that best suit their needs and budgets must be protected, not restricted.

Strengthen America globally

• The U.S. is the world’s leading producer of oil and natural gas – the world’s leading energy sources.
• American energy played a key role as Europe averted the worst of an energy crisis when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and began restricting natural gas supplies to opponents of its aggression.
• U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) strengthen America’s competitive edge against global adversaries, which is especially important as Europe continues to use some Russian natural gas. The Financial Times reported that in May, Russian piped natural gas and LNG shipments accounted for 15% of total supply to the European Union, United Kingdom and other countries, while U.S. LNG accounted for 14%.
• American LNG gives other countries the opportunity to lower their emissions and replicate what the U.S. has done, on the way to becoming a global leader in reducing emissions.

The Energy Department should lift the ongoing pause on new LNG permits and promptly approve pending export applications to support America’s status as the world’s leading LNG supplier, affirm commitments to allies, unlock billions in investment, and create American jobs.

Advance sensible tax policy

• America’s oil and natural gas industry supports 11 million jobs and drives billions in investment that boosts the nation’s economy.

U.S. tax policy must be made competitive with policies of other nations, because capital flows to where it is most welcome.  And investment in American industries is vital to a strong, diversified economy, helping to sustain the jobs, economic growth and tax revenues that support our states and communities.

Bottom line: American oil and natural gas empowers our modern standard of living. Strong domestic production drives the economy and helps control energy costs for American families and businesses. American-made energy makes our nation more secure and bolsters our country’s ability to be a force for good the world over.

API’s roadmap can help unlock those benefits.

Sommers:

“As the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas, we bring stability in a time of chaos, making our industry the envy of the world. This critical framework highlights our commitment to maintaining America’s energy advantage for decades to come.”