The noble image of the farmer guiding his draft horse-led steel plow through the rich earth is weaved into the fabric of Americana. But that simplistic and iconic vision is far removed from the modern farming techniques that fill our tables every day. For as those old iron plows have been recycled or become decorative… Keep reading →
Last week we looked at the potential impacts on domestic energy production and U.S. households of two approaches to energy policy described in Wood Mackenzie’s new study. Today, let’s focus on jobs. Again, here’s Wood Mackenzie’s overview chart showing, side-by-side, the effects of pro-development energy policies (green column) and regulatory-constrained policies (red column): Note the… Keep reading →
The US oil and natural gas business has been an unusual bright spot for the American economy over the past four years, and that success has helped highlight energy issues as a major factor in the 2012 election cycle.
Energy has not traditionally been a focus of electoral politics beyond prices at the gasoline pump, but this year the broader focus on the economy and the government’s role in directing it have brought to light the successes, the potential and the risks of energy development in the US. Keep reading →
Energy issues aren’t popping up much yet in election year discussions and debates, but if the American Petroleum Institute gets its way, they will be.
API President and CEO Jack Gerard told a luncheon in Washington, DC Wednesday that the oil and gas lobby is launching a nationwide “conversation with the American people” called “Vote for Energy.” Keep reading →
Energy Voters As A Political Power: AOL Energy Comment
By Peter GardettCan the millions of workers in the US energy sector, their families and neighbors, and the millions more whose lives are built on energy activities, be convinced to vote their concerns about an industry?
In other democracies workers in individual sectors often view their politics through their professional and industrial identities, while many recent election races in the US have hinged on political identities rooted in social values as much as economic beliefs. While the US energy sector remains one of the country’s largest employers and most visible sources of economic vibrancy, its natural constituents rarely raise its issues in their lists of concerns politicians (and presidential hopefuls) should address. Keep reading →