Energy Tomorrow Blog
Bipartisan Crude Exports Vote is for Jobs, Security
crude oil exports domestic oil production economic growth jobs security congress
Mark Green
Posted October 9, 2015
It’s a bit early to go into a “victory formation” with the U.S. House of Representatives’ bipartisan vote to pass legislation lifting the United States’ decades-old ban on exporting domestic crude oil. The measure still has to get through the Senate, and President Obama has promised to veto it – vetoing help to consumers, jobs and economic growth, as well as an opportunity to increase America’s global competitiveness while strengthening our security.
Yet, it’s a major step in the direction of making energy history, which ending the export ban surely would represent. It would acknowledge that the world is much changed since the 1970s-era ban was imposed – mainly, that the U.S. energy revolution has rewritten America’s energy narrative while fundamentally reordered the world energy balance. Both compel policymakers to finish the job and lift the export ban.
Bipartisan Crude Exports Vote – A Vote for U.S. Jobs, Security, Competitiveness
crude oil exports domestic oil production economic growth security jobs
Mark Green
Posted October 9, 2015
It’s a bit early to go into a “victory formation” with the U.S. House of Representatives’ bipartisan vote to pass legislation lifting the United States’ decades-old ban on exporting domestic crude oil. The measure still has to get through the Senate, and President Obama has promised to veto it – vetoing help to consumers, jobs and economic growth, as well as an opportunity to increase America’s global competitiveness while strengthening our security.
Yet, it’s a major step in the direction of making energy history, which ending the export ban surely would represent. It would acknowledge that the world is much changed since the 1970s-era ban was imposed – mainly, that the U.S. energy revolution has rewritten America’s energy narrative while fundamentally reordered the world energy balance. Both compel policymakers to finish the job and lift the export ban.
Populists Versus the Populace – Oil Exports Edition
crude oil exports earnings oil and natural gas development investments taxes economic growth jobs
Mark Green
Posted October 9, 2015
We’re still more than a year from the next presidential election, but already we’re hearing attacks on energy company earnings, rhetoric calibrated for the sole purpose of riling up the party base. It’s bad political theater that misleads the American public to score political points, distracting from a substantive debate on the right energy path for the country. This has come up most recently in the debate over lifting the 1970s-era ban on U.S. crude oil exports -- which was advanced with bipartisan U.S. House passage of a bill ending the export ban.
Yesterday, we looked at problems with the White House’s opposition to lifting the ban. Goodness knows, export opponents on Capitol Hill have their own faulty reasons. We’ve covered most of these before, including consumer impacts, national security and the oil imports vs. exports muddle.
Some of the biggest confusion comes from those who find it convenient to flay the oil and natural gas industry. Certainly, running around and repeating “Big Oil” over and over again plays well with people who don’t like fossil fuels and/or progress in general. Unfortunately, in their rush to attack those who supply products that the American people actually want and demand – products that power our economy and modern way of life – it’s the American people who take the hit.
White House Politics Versus The American People
crude oil exports economic growth jobs white house ghg mitigation technologies oil and natural gas development
Kyle Isakower
Posted October 8, 2015
These things are true:
- The U.S. gets the majority of its energy from oil and natural gas, and is projected to continue to do so for decades.
- Since 2005 U.S. production of natural gas is up 43 percent.
- Since 2008 U.S. production of crude oil is up 88 percent.
- U.S. air quality continues to improve, with concentrations of carbon monoxide down 60 percent, ozone down 18 percent, lead 87 percent, nitrogen dioxide 43 percent, particulate matter 35 percent and sulfur dioxide 62 percent since 2000.
- The federal U.S. budget deficit for FY2015 was $435 billion.
- The U.S. trade deficit rose in August as exports hit a three-year low.
- Since 2008 our working age population has grown by over 16 million, while employment is up 8.5 million, leaving the U.S. at odds with trends in other countries.
- U.S. poverty and wages are stagnant, and it is getting harder for people to move beyond a minimum-wage job.
- Americans' trust in the federal government's ability to handle domestic problems has reached a new low.
These things are true, and thus, when presented with bipartisan legislation to reduce consumer fuel costs and the trade deficit while increasing U.S. investment, domestic crude oil production, GDP and government revenues and creating good paying jobs – all via U.S. crude oil exports – the White House obviously had no choice but to … threaten to veto it.
The Crude Oil Exports Vote
crude oil exports crude oil production economic growth jobs
Mark Green
Posted October 7, 2015
The U.S. House has an important vote scheduled for Friday on legislation that would lift the 1970s-era ban on domestic crude oil exports. It’s an historic chance for U.S. policymakers to affirm that America’s energy picture is fundamentally and dramatically improved from where it was four decades ago – thanks to surging domestic production that has made the United States the world’s No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas.
It boils down to this: A vote for the bill would be a vote for U.S. jobs, economic growth, trade benefits and strengthened American security. It would be a vote for U.S. consumers and American global competitiveness. It would be a vote for America’s friends abroad, who see U.S. energy as a global supply diversifier and stabilizer. As one ally said earlier this year, with U.S. oil exports the “world itself will be a … safer place.”
The Crude Oil Exports Vote
crude oil exports domestic oil production economic growth jobs Energy Security
Mark Green
Posted October 7, 2015
The U.S. House has an important vote scheduled for Friday on legislation that would lift the 1970s-era ban on domestic crude oil exports. It’s an historic chance for U.S. policymakers to affirm that America’s energy picture is fundamentally and dramatically improved from where it was four decades ago – thanks to surging domestic production that has made the United States the world’s No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas.
It boils down to this: A vote for the bill would be a vote for U.S. jobs, economic growth, trade benefits and strengthened American security. It would be a vote for U.S. consumers and American global competitiveness. It would be a vote for America’s friends abroad, who see U.S. energy as a global supply diversifier and stabilizer. As one ally said earlier this year, with U.S. oil exports the “world itself will be a … safer place.”
Hillary, Politics and The Pipeline
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Mark Green
Posted September 23, 2015
At some point during the past seven years the Keystone XL pipeline ceased to exist only as an important project of energy infrastructure – one that could generate jobs, economic growth and strengthen U.S. energy security – and became a symbol for a narrow ideological agenda, a political football the White House has endlessly punted around to suit its own political needs. Little surprise, then, that Hillary Clinton has decided to join in the KXL kicking.
Crude Oil Exports, Imports and Fig Leaves
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Mark Green
Posted September 18, 2015
First, they said it was about protecting consumers. Opponents of lifting the U.S. ban on crude oil exports claimed that allowing domestic crude to reach the global market would negatively impact Americans at the gas pump. But every major economic study looking at the issue has blown away that fig leaf.
The studies – from Brookings Energy Security Initiative to IHS to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) – estimate that U.S. oil exports would put downward pressure on U.S. gasoline prices, benefiting American consumers.
There have been other fig leaves.
Exports opponents say America shouldn’t export crude as long as our country is an oil importer. They also say the U.S. should isolate its crude from the global marketplace for national security reasons and that for those reasons oil should be treated differently than other U.S. commodities that are freely traded. These, too, have been blown away by the facts and sound economic analysis.
Lift the Oil Export Ban, Strengthen America
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Mark Green
Posted September 15, 2015
So here we are: Legislation that would end America’s 40-year-old ban on the export of domestic crude oil is moving through Congress – and better, there’s bipartisan momentum behind it.
Resistance to lifting the crude exports ban has no credible footholds – reflecting the breadth of the economic analysis supporting exports. There’s also the realization by most Americans that our country’s ongoing energy revolution has pretty much dashed the 1970s-era justifications for excluding American energy from the global marketplace, where it could be positively affecting global crude markets, stimulating production here at home and providing real energy aid to America’s allies.
Live Event: Impacts of the Crude Oil Exports Ban
analysis energy exports crude oil economic benefits production american petroleum institute Jack Gerard
Mark Green
Posted September 15, 2015
Join us Tuesday morning for a live event from Washington, D.C., that will explore the impacts of America’s crude oil exports ban on our economy, national security, foreign policy, the environment, consumers and more.
The event, hosted by National Journal and sponsored by API, is scheduled to begin at 8:45 a.m. API President and CEO Jack Gerard will introduce the event, followed by remarks from U.S. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp and John Hoeven, both of North Dakota, and Ed Markey of Massachusetts.