API Urges President Obama to Work with Bipartisan Coalition
Rayola Dougher
Posted April 7, 2011
Editor's Note: API praised the leadership of Chairman Upton and other members of Congress from both parties who voted to stop EPA from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Marty Durbin, API executive vice president, called today's action an important step toward stopping the EPA's regulations and called on the president not to ignore this bipartisan vote:
"We welcome today's bipartisan vote to stop the EPA from overstepping its authority and to restore the Clean Air Act to its original purpose. We must continue to improve air quality, but we must also protect Americans from higher energy bills and from regulations that could cost hundreds of thousands of American jobs.
"We also welcome the support of a clear majority of senators, including 17 Democrats, who yesterday supported efforts to keep EPA from moving forward with its greenhouse gas regulations. The American people want our elected officials to focus on job creation and economic recovery. This bipartisan effort in both the House and the Senate will help keep that focus by preventing the EPA from creating stringent new requirements and injecting uncertainty into the permitting process for new construction projects.
"We hope the president sees this opportunity to work with this bipartisan coalition from both houses of Congress to find a common sense solution that won't lead to higher energy costs and fewer jobs."
API represents more than 470 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America's energy, supports more than 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.5 percent of the U.S. economy, and, since 2000, has invested nearly $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.