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API Issues Call to Action in 2022 State of American Energy Address


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Urges Administration and Congress to Adopt Policies to Strengthen American Energy Leadership  

WASHINGTON, January 12, 2022 – During its annual State of American Energy event, API today called on Congress and the administration to adopt policies to strengthen American energy leadership while building on the progress the U.S. has made in reducing emissions to generational lows. At a time when Americans view energy costs as a major concern, API President and CEO Mike Sommers headlined the event alongside other API leadership and industry engineers and innovators who are tackling the energy challenges of today and tomorrow to keep our country moving forward.

“In so many ways, the state of American energy is strong,” Sommers said. “Our nation has the resources and expertise it takes to meet our energy needs, support millions of jobs, continue to address the risks of climate change, and keep America free from the dangers of dependence on unreliable foreign sources. Even so, we begin 2022 with Americans viewing energy and its costs as major concerns. This is in part because lately, we’ve seen policies aimed at restricting production and delivery of U.S. natural gas and oil.”

Sommers called on Congress and the administration to implement policies to address climate change, including those outlined in API’s Climate Action Framework; encourage development of responsibly produced domestic energy; and craft regulatory policies that provide certainty, unleash private investment and build on industry technological progress, including on methane emissions.

“This industry is ever-evolving and transitioning through incorporation of new technology, cleaner fuels, and new systems to deliver energy with fewer emissions and a smaller footprint,” Sommers said. “Our industry brings the scale and expertise to make a lower-carbon future a reality. This is about addition, not subtraction. America needs all the reliable, affordable, lower-carbon energy we can get.”

“When policy signals prevent energy leadership here at home, there are going to be consequences,” Sommers said. “U.S. policies that restrict domestic production force our country to seek relief from OPEC, undermining our energy independence. America should not be in the position of asking for foreign energy supplies, especially when we have abundant resources produced to standards that are among the highest in the world, right here at home. Instead, we should be leading, as the world’s top producer of natural gas and oil.”

“It’s when things get rough in energy markets – when Americans have felt the turbulence of instability in places like California, Texas or New England – that we can see energy as the bipartisan priority that it should be,” Sommers said. “At API, we advocate in that spirit every day. Nothing is more essential to economic growth than reliable, affordable and abundant energy. To lose that advantage is not in anybody’s best interest. And so, we make our case to everyone, working with both political parties in Congress and across all 50 states."

In addition to API President and CEO Mike Sommers, the event featured Chance Chase, vice president of Mack Energy Corporation in New Mexico; Heidi Gill, founder and CEO of Urban Solution Group in Colorado; and Sue Gumble, program director at Lackawanna College School of Petroleum and Natural Gas. API Executive Vice President and COO Amanda Eversole also led a panel featuring industry engineers and innovators from Apache Corporation, Halliburton, Alyeska, Marathon Petroleum Corporation and Coterra Energy who discussed ways the industry is taking action to improve local communities and tackle today’s energy and environmental challenges.

View API’s 2022 State of American Energy digital report here and a copy of Sommers' remarks here.

API represents all segments of America’s natural gas and oil industry, which supports more than 11 million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of millions of Americans. Our nearly 600 members produce, process and distribute the majority of the nation’s energy, and participate in API Energy Excellence®, which is accelerating environmental and safety progress by fostering new technologies and transparent reporting. API was formed in 1919 as a standards-setting organization and has developed more than 700 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency and sustainability.

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