energy for progress
<div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size: small;">API BS PR </font><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/blog/2020/01/08/state-of-american-energy-2020">https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/blog/2020/01/08/state-of-american-energy-2020</a></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; list-style-type: none; color: rgb(51, 55, 56); font-family: calluna, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16.2px; background-color: rgb(233, 235, 234);"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://energycitizens.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(51, 55, 56); text-decoration-line: none;">Energy Citizens</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="https://www.energynation.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(51, 55, 56); text-decoration-line: none;">Energy Nation</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 10px;"><a href="https://powerpastimpossible.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(51, 55, 56); text-decoration-line: none;">powerpastimpossible.org</a></li></ul></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx many</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mike Rowe’s Discovery+ show Six Degrees is sponsored by the oil industry</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Andy Dehnart</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4 Jan. 2021 | </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Six Degrees with Mike Rowe premiered earlier this year on Discovery+, and is now airing Sundays on the Discovery Channel. It’s still a show that was funded by the oil industry, despite Discovery’s insistence that it “is committed to curbing our own impact on the environment.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mike Rowe’s 2005 to 2012 reality show Dirty Jobs was terrific, both entertaining and informative, educational without being annoying. On that and the CNN show that followed, Somebody’s Gotta Do It, Mike was an affable host who put the spotlight on the people he was profiling (rather than making it all about himself).</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I especially appreciated his mission of highlighting the people who do “the kinds of jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us,” as he said during Dirty Jobs’ intro.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So in December, when I received screeners for his new Discovery+ show Six Degrees with Mike Rowe, I was hopeful it’d be similar. On the show, which premiered today on the new subscription streaming service, Mike “poses questions that no one has ever asked, and then, (with a little help from his old buddy Chuck), <b>provides unforgettable answers that prove every single thing is connected,” according to Discovery’s description. For example, one episode ends with him saying, “That is how a horseshoe can find your soulmate,” connecting horseshoes to wifi.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While the anecdotes were interesting, I didn’t find the show compelling enough to keep watching. But then, at the end of episode 101, “How can a horseshoe help you find the perfect soulmate?”, Mike said this:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“Six Degrees is sponsored by the oil and natural gas industry. Why? Because oil and natural gas connects everything. Remember Howard Hughes from just a few scenes ago? Well, before Howard made a fortune in aerospace, he made a fortune in the oil fields. The money that he gave to Hedy Lamarr that she used to help create wifi, that came from oil.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Ever since Jeff Probst dropped a Target-branded crate on Survivor contestants 20 years ago, I’ve been very used to product integration on reality TV shows. Target, Budweiser, and other company’s sponsorship literally made Survivor possible.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And since then, producers and networks have used product integration of varying kinds—sometimes to make money, but often to just cover the costs of production. So I understand the very real need to get sponsorship.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet I also could not recall a host making as explicit a sponsorship statement as Mike Rowe did there, and also was shocked by the actual advertiser: the oil industry?!</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On the one hand, it’s nice transparency: Here’s who paid for this. On the other hand, it’s the oil industry.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In another episode, “How Civil War Soldiers Produced This Show,” Mike concluded with this:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Why is Six Degrees sponsored by the energy industry? Well, that’s a bit like asking why Chuck drinks coffee all day long. When you play a dozen different characters in the course of a single show, you need all the energy you can get. Likewise, when you go to your favorite search engine to find whatever it is you’re looking for, that takes energy, too.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Specifically, it takes electricity—electricity made possible by spinning turbines. Turbines powered by wind and solar, but mostly by oil and natural gas. So, go pour yourself another cup of joe, and raise your glass to the men and women who provide the energy that keeps the servers humming 24/7.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is undeniably factual. And of course, this website runs on such a server, and I have a hybrid car that still uses gasoline, and I use plastic products, which I try to recycle.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The other episode I had access to, “How A Mousetrap Can Cure Your Hangover,” does not have that explicit a message at its conclusion. (It ends with an outtake of Mike laughing.) But its credits—like the other episodes—include this:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Special Thanks</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Energy Citizens</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Thanks to Our Sponsors</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>American Petroleum Institute</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Distribution Contractors Association</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Distribution Contractors Association’s mission statement says “working together to deliver superior value to the natural gas and the underground utility industry.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Energy Citizens, which is fighting for oil pipelines and against efforts to end our dependence on gasoline, says it is “paid for by the American Petroleum Institute,” and the API says it “represents all segments of America’s oil and natural gas industry.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">The American Petroleum Industry is currently being sued by the state of Minnesota, which says API is among the “parties who have profited from avoiding the consequences and costs of dealing with global warming and its physical, environmental, social, and economic consequences,” and wants it to pay for “those impacts, rather than Minnesota taxpayers, residents, or broader segments of the public.” API is also being sued by Hoboken, New Jersey, which said Big Oil has been “actively lying about the detrimental effects of their products when in fact their own research indicated otherwise, all in order to generate multibillion dollar profits by producing, marketing, and selling vast quantities of fossil fuels.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">The Climate Investigations Center reported that “API was one of the first trade associations to orchestrate behind-the-scenes climate change denial campaigns. As early as the 1950’s and 1960’s, API worked to downplay the threat of smog to human health in Los Angeles by hiring their own scientists that would disparage leading smog control scientists, while promoting the idea that pollution controls would be too costly.”</font></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">
</span></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Now, they’re sponsoring a Discovery+ reality show—a show you have to pay Discovery to watch. And even if you pay $7/month to remove ads, the oil industry’s message is part of some of the actual episodes.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why does this matter?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A screenshot from an episode of Six Degrees with Mike Rowe, which shows the oil industry's sponsorship.]</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Earlier last year, Mike Rowe was one of the speakers at an API event, where he and others “discussed the state of the energy workforce and the need for sensible policymaking on trade and infrastructure.” API’s press release quotes him: “Energy is always in the room…Every single American is relying on it.”</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But every single American is also being affected by a “coordinated cover-up of climate risks [that] stretches back decades and rivals that of big tobacco companies.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And we’re being affected by climate change right now. NASA’s “The Effects of Climate Change” outlines “impacts that are currently visible throughout the U.S. and will continue to affect these regions,” including “decreased water availability,” “risks to infrastructure,” “increasing wildfire, insect outbreaks and tree diseases [that] are causing widespread die-off,” “reduced agricultural yields” and “health impacts in cities due to heat.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Emily Atkin, whose reporting on the climate crisis has taught me so much, wrote this:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Every year, the oil and gas industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising to convince the public they’re good faith partners in the fight against climate change.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">… Oil companies and trade groups run such ads claiming they’re “part of the solution” while investing trillions of dollars into extracting more fossil fuels that, if burned, will undoubtedly send the livable world into chaos. They run ads claiming they’re “on it” while spending millions funding the spread of climate denial and disinformation.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I have not watched all episodes—three were provided to critics—but I have not seen evidence that Six Degrees with Mike Rowe is directly denying climate change or spreading overt disinformation.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But it certainly is taking the oil industry’s money—and delivering a pro-oil message that focuses on “the men and women who provide the energy that keeps the servers humming 24/7.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That sounds reasonable until I imagine Mister Rogers saying Mister Rogers Neighborhood was sponsored by the tobacco industry, and the hard-working men and women who produce the nation’s cigarettes.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mike Rowe’s response</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On its web site, Discovery—now a massive, worldwide company, not just a single cable network—outlines its commitments to “being purposeful and doing the right thing.</b>” That includes its commitments to the planet: “we seek to protect the planet and ensure there will always be stories to tell. We acknowledge that climate change is a real threat to our world and business and Discovery is committed to curbing our own impact on the environment.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I asked Discovery how accepting money from an industry responsible for climate change and for lying about it fit with Discovery’s corporate mission and stated goals, and if Discovery be “committed to curbing our own impact” while allowing the oil industry to buy time inside one of its high-profile new shows.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Discovery did not respond to those questions.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I also asked where the sponsorship came from, how much they’re paying, who’s receiving that funding, and if the oil industry had any editorial control.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I received a statement attributed to Mike Rowe, which said this:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">“Six Degrees is a show about the surprising ways people and events are connected through history. DCA and API were both interested in the concept and offered to sponsor the program before it was even shopped. They had no creative input, and no editorial oversight. But their enthusiasm for the project allowed us to start production long before the program had a home. It wouldn’t have happened without them, and I’m grateful for their support.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mike’s appreciation for their support for funding his show is understandable, but it’s regrettable that he’s appreciating and promoting an industry and organizations that are causing so much damage to every one of us.</font></div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">some lnk</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: calc(18px + var(--mv-trellis-gutter-small,10px)); box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit;">Distribution Contractors Association’s <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://dcaweb.org/page/MissionStatement" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(51, 102, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">mission statement</a> says “working together to deliver superior value to the natural gas and the underground utility industry.”</p><p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: calc(18px + var(--mv-trellis-gutter-small,10px)); box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit;">Energy Citizens, which is fighting <a href="https://energycitizens.org/issues/pipelines-infrastructure/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(51, 102, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">for oil pipelines</a> and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://energycitizens.org/issues/driving-the-wrong-direction-in-california/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(51, 102, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">against efforts</a> to end our dependence on gasoline, says it is “paid for by the American Petroleum Institute,” and the <a href="https://www.api.org/about" target="blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(51, 102, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">API says</a> it “represents all segments of America’s oil and natural gas industry.”</p><p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: calc(18px + var(--mv-trellis-gutter-small,10px)); box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit;">The American Petroleum Industry is currently being <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2020/06/24_ExxonKochAPI.asp" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(51, 102, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">sued by the state of Minnesota</a>, which says API is among the “parties who have profited from avoiding the consequences and costs of dealing with global warming and its physical, environmental, social, and economic consequences,” and wants it to pay for “those impacts, rather than Minnesota taxpayers, residents, or broader segments of the public.” API is also being <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.hobokennj.gov/news/hoboken-sues-exxon-mobil-american-petroleum-institute-big-oil-companies" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(51, 102, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">sued by Hoboken, New Jersey</a>, which said Big Oil has been “actively lying about the detrimental effects of their products when in fact their own research indicated otherwise, all in order to generate multibillion dollar profits by producing, marketing, and selling vast quantities of fossil fuels.”</p><p data-slot-rendered-dynamic="true" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: calc(18px + var(--mv-trellis-gutter-small,10px)); box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit;">The <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://climateinvestigations.org/trade-association-pr-spending/american-petroleum-institute/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(51, 102, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Climate Investigations Center reported</a> that “API was one of the first trade associations to orchestrate behind-the-scenes climate change denial campaigns. As early as the 1950’s and 1960’s, API worked to<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190308195413/https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05062016/oil-industry-clean-air-fight-smog-los-angeles-dress-rehearsal-climate-change-denial-exxon" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(51, 102, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"> downplay the threat of smog</a> to human health in Los Angeles by hiring their own scientists that would disparage leading smog control scientists, while promoting the idea that pollution controls would be too costly.”</p></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">ref conf</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><p class="small clearfix" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;"> January 8, 2020</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;">The U.S. is the global leader in energy production, carbon emissions reductions and environmental performance.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"> In 2020, the <a href="https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/state-of-american-energy/soae-2020-policy" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 700; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;">State of American Energy</a> is one of leadership in natural gas and oil development and ongoing progress toward global climate solutions.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;">For decades, U.S. energy policy has focused on reducing our dependence on foreign natural gas and oil – the outlook was often defined by scarcity, rather than abundance. Each of our <a href="https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/blog/2019/11/22/us-leaders-should-empower-us-energy-leadership" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 700; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent;">last seven presidents</a> understood that clean, affordable and reliable American energy is essential to both economic growth and national security. And today, our nation has achieved this hard-fought, bipartisan goal.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;">This was the overarching message of the State of American Energy event in Washington, D.C., where API unveiled its latest advocacy campaign – <a href="https://energyforprogress.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 700; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent;">Energy for Progress</a> – focused on establishing a shared vision for a brighter energy future.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;">In the keynote address, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><b>API President and CEO Mike Sommers</b> </span>emphasized that the benefits of American energy progress are felt be everyone – in Colorado and New Mexico, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and with our trading partners across the globe:</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 20px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; border-left: 5px solid rgb(233, 235, 234);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> “U.S. energy leadership offers stability in chaotic times and insulates America from hostile and unreliable suppliers of energy. The global benefits of American natural gas and oil on the international stage are compelling. But if you want to know the value of stenergy leadership in 2020, you also must zoom in to see its benefits here at home. They’re on display from the smallest American communities to our biggest cities. American energy is powering the lives of people across our nation.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 20px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; border-left: 5px solid rgb(233, 235, 234);">[vid]</blockquote><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 20px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; border-left: 5px solid rgb(233, 235, 234);">aPI’s annual report – “<a href="https://www.api.org//media/Files/Policy/SOAE-2020/soae-2020-report.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 700; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box;">This is Energy Progress</a>” – tells the story of seven communities that have felt the positive impacts of the U.S. shale revolution. With decreased household energy costs, increased investment in infrastructure projects and expanded opportunities for skilled tradespeople, domestic energy abundance is an economic asset for millions of Americans. Sommers remarked:</blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 20px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; border-left: 5px solid rgb(233, 235, 234);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>“Natural gas and oil help explain why, in parts of America that haven’t seen job growth for decades, you’ll now find a vibrant manufacturing base…and more tax revenue for schools, police, public works, conservation, and everything else that powers modern life.”</b></span></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;">The event also included a panel discussion featuring Terry O’Sullivan, General President of the <b>Laborers’ International Union of North America;</b> Karen Kerrigan, President and CEO of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council; Leslie Beyer, President of the Petroleum Equipment and Services Association; and <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Mike Rowe, former host of Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs. Among other topics, the experts discussed the state of the energy workforce and the need for sensible policymaking on trade and infrastructure. Mike Rowe stated, plainly:</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 20px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; border-left: 5px solid rgb(233, 235, 234);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“Energy is always in the room...Every single American is relying on it.”</span></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><b>Still, there are those intent on halting U.S. energy development –</b> offering unrealistic policy proposals that promise to ban state-of-the-art techniques, like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, or permanently restrict natural gas and oil production on federal lands. These <b>agenda</b>-driven positions all but assure a retreat from our decades-long advance toward energy security and economic prosperity.</span> Sommers explained:</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 20px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; border-left: 5px solid rgb(233, 235, 234);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">“At the extreme, we hear promises on the 2020 campaign trail to ban fracking, nationwide and forever. Here’s a glimpse at that vision: Millions of jobs lost, a spike in household energy costs, a manufacturing downturn and less energy security. In the short run, a fracking ban in America would quickly invite a global recession. You don’t abolish the most dynamic asset of the world’s leading energy supplier without severe consequences.”</span></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;">But the lawmakers and presidential contenders presenting these positions on fracking, energy infrastructure, and federal and offshore leases offer false choices when comprehensive and common-sense solutions are within reach. Simply put, the U.S. doesn’t have choose between energy abundance and environmental progress. By advocating for smart policies that advance industry-led innovations, we can continue to expand the economy, supply affordable natural gas and oil to consumers and drive down emissions of carbon dioxide. Sommers noted:</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 20px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; border-left: 5px solid rgb(233, 235, 234);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>“Bold and achievable action on climate change at the global level is essential, and America’s natural gas and oil industry is committed to innovation and leadership to make these ambitions more than just hopes and dreams. We support legislation to encourage wider use of carbon-capture, utilization, and storage technology—a breakthrough based on American ingenuity.”</b></span></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;">In 2020, this industry – and our nation – finds itself at a defining moment. As the global demand for energy rises and actions to combat climate change intensify, America’s natural gas and oil industry is poised to tackle this dual challenge and create a better, brighter future for all. This is the State of American Energy. This is energy for progress.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;" /><div class="well" style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); box-sizing: border-box; min-height: 20px; padding: 19px; margin-bottom: 20px; border: 1px solid rgb(227, 227, 227); border-radius: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05) 0px 1px 1px inset;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-transform: capitalize;">About The Author</h3><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: border-box;">Sam Winstel is a writer for the American Petroleum Institute. He comes to API from <b>Edelman,</b> where he supported communications marketing strategies for clients across the firm’s energy and federal government practices. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Sam graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina, and he<b> currently resides in Washington, D.C</b></p></div></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">=</div></div>