The President's Speech

Mark Green
Posted September 8, 2011

What we'd like to hear the president say when he addresses a joint session of Congress on jobs and the economy tonight:

"After a good deal of thought, I've decided it's time we turned job creation over to business and industry, because after all, they're the true job creators in this country. While government can help create an atmosphere for growth, real growth and the jobs resulting from it will come from the private sector. To show I'm committed to this course, I suggest we start with the oil and natural gas industry. The energy sector was one of the few to create jobs last month and has proved it can boost our economy while supporting our way of life. America has vast energy resources and a vibrant industry ready to go get them. We intend to get out of the way and let them do it."

Fanciful? Perhaps wildly so. Yet the oil and natural gas industry is ready to be called on, to be allowed to do what it has been doing - creating jobs, generating investment and accumulating revenues for all levels of government while supplying the energy we need. Even better, it is ready to do more. A new study by research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie shows how much more:

• 1 million additional jobs by 2018 and 1.4 million by 2030 - possible if: 1) government allows access to federal onshore and offshore areas now closed to development (including the outer continental shelf, the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) and 2) Canada's oil sands resources are fully developed, with construction of the Keystone XL pipeline providing an important link.
• Nearly $800 billion in cumulative revenue to government by 2030 - enough to have covered NASA's budget the past 50 years.
• An increase in daily oil and natural gas production of 10.3 million barrels of oil equivalent by 2030.

Think of it: With the right policies in place, someone born today would be able to drive his or her car with fuel derived solely from North American sources.

The Wood Mackenzie report was highlighted at this week's energy jobs summit, co-hosted by The Hill and API. You can look here for archived video of the event and other features, including an interactive map that shows the state-by-state jobs impact of increased energy access.

Access = jobs and tax revenue. These will boost the economy and help reduce the deficit. Blogger Mark J. Perry weighs in:

"What if we could create 1 million new jobs in the U.S. over the next seven years by 2018, and 1.4 million total new jobs by 2030 without spending a dollar of taxpayer money? In fact, what if the creation of those new jobs actually generated hundreds of billions of dollars of additional government revenue ($800 billion by 2030). Sound too good to be true? ... Here's one way to understand the impact of those new jobs on the U.S. economy: If we had 1 million of those jobs today, it would lower the U.S. jobless rates from 9.1% down to 8.4% and if we had 1.4 million jobs, it would lower the rate down to 8.2%."

Then there's the energy. The charts below compare the Energy Information Administration's current forecast on energy supply sources (in gray) with the energy potentials outlined in the Wood Mackenzie report (in green). Under the access scenario, 100 percent of our liquid fuel needs would be provided by domestic oil and gas, our biofuels industry and Canada. That's secure energy.

At the summit, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) said increased energy access - and the jobs and revenues it would generate - should be part of the discussion when the congressional deficit-cutting "super committee" begins work. He said increasing American energy production is the easiest way to get revenues to government. "When we have these energy resources, the American people don't understand why we don't use them," he said. API President and CEO Jack Gerard:

"The potential here is enormous and we are hopeful that the administration and congressional leaders will work with us to make the conclusions of this new study a reality. The study, which we've provided to the president, the Congress and to other presidential hopefuls, identifies the choices necessary to make that future a reality."

So, as the president speaks, we'll be all ears.