API Emphasizes Energy Ahead Of First Presidential Debate

“Voters identify the economy and jobs as their top election concern, and the American energy revolution’s role in economic growth should ensure that it’s a focus in tonight’s discussion,” Gerard said. “Last year American drivers saved, on average, over $550 on transportation fuel costs, along with significant savings on home heating and electricity costs. When lower product costs and other savings are factored in, American households have an extra $1337 per year in the bank due to shale energy production. Those are major savings that have a real impact for family budgets.”

Gerard added that energy’s importance to the economy and job creation are why API has been running the Vote4Energy campaign this year—to talk to voters about why they should insist politicians running for office take a stand on the U.S. energy future. With steady U.S. supply adding stability to world markets, the influence of less stable regions on fuel costs is diminished. Further, petroleum consumption derived from imports reached its lowest level since 1970 in 2015. American energy abundance also strengthens America’s ability to export oil and natural gas to allies, enhancing their security by lessening dependence on nations that use energy as a political weapon.

Further, power and materials costs are down for producers of steel, chemicals, plastics, and other products, contributing to a 10% to 20% reduction in American manufacturing costs compared to foreign competitors. That makes a host of products more affordable, and it brings jobs back. Studies project that shale energy development can generate 3.9 million jobs by 2025, including manufacturing jobs and energy jobs that pay nearly double the national average salary.

“Our nation’s leadership on these critical issues happened largely through American ingenuity, American innovation, and free markets,” Gerard said. “If the president’s 2008 campaign message was ‘Yes, we can,’ America’s oil and natural gas industry in 2016 can say ‘Yes, we did.’ Not only is the United States the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world, we are leading the world in reducing carbon emissions—which are at 20-year lows.”