Americans continue to endure anemic economic growth of barely 2% a year. For most people, it continues to be too hard to find a good paying job, get a raise or simply make ends meet. Some call this “the new normal,” but it is unacceptable. With the right policies and leadership, we can, in the near-term, achieve 4% growth and restore the opportunity for every American to rise. But that will only happen if we reverse damaging federal energy policies.
The Energy Revolution and Growth
Energy is not just a sector of our economy. It is also an input into every other economic sector. That means cheaper, more reliable energy benefits American families in multiple ways. More domestic energy leads to more jobs, higher wages, lower gas prices and smaller electricity bills. In short, it means more money in people’s pockets, allowing them more freedom to make more choices for themselves and their children.
Current federal energy policies impose Washington, DC’s will on how states, tribes, businesses and families produce and use energy. In spite of this, the United States has managed to benefit over the last several years from an American innovation. A combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling is transforming the United States into a global energy superpower. For instance, since 2008, U.S. crude oil output has increased by over 80%, an increase of over 4 million barrels a day. That is the fastest increase in U.S. history. Even with the recent slowdown in production due to lower energy prices, America will continue to produce vastly more oil and gas than it has in decades, with corresponding economic and strategic benefits.
A Once-in-a-Generation Economic Opportunity
The U.S. is still in the early stages of capitalizing on this economic opportunity. The Energy Revolution creates jobs in the oil and gas fields. Researchers at Dartmouth University found that every $1 million of oil and gas extracted from an oil or gas well generates, within 100 miles of that well, an additional $263,000 in wages and 2.8 new jobs. It also creates jobs throughout the oil and gas supply chain. For example, diesel engines that drive drilling rigs in Texas are largely manufactured in the U.S. heartland including in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan.
A Manufacturing Renaissance, a million new jobs
However, job creation extends well beyond the oil and gas industry and its suppliers. A Harvard Business School/Boston Consulting Group study asserts, “We believe that the single-largest source of competitive advantage and economic opportunity for the United States over the next decade or two is likely to be energy.” Cheaper energy can reinvigorate U.S. manufacturing. The result, more Americans find work. PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts the cheaper energy produced by the Energy Revolution will result in the creation of 930,000 new manufacturing jobs by 2030 and 1.41 million by 2040.
To learn more about my plan to unleash the energy revolution, please visit here: An Energy Plan for Americans to Rise
