API: New Jersey legislature ignores economic benefits and energy security

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2011—API’s President and CEO Jack Gerard today issued the following statement on the decision by the New Jersey legislature to issue a statewide ban on the use of hydraulic fracturing:

"The state legislature in New Jersey has passed a misguided statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing that follows a reckless path and ignores the economic benefits to job creation, revenue to the government, and America’s need for energy.

"A blanket ban on a proven technology used for over 60 years is short-sighted and irresponsible, particularly when New Jersey benefits from safely produced natural gas in neighboring states."

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 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers $86 million in revenue to our government every day, and, since 2000, has invested nearly $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.