As gas prices drop, so do many American jobs

I grew up surrounded by oil rigs. They were a common fixture in my world since I lived in the Uintah Basin, a beautiful piece of earth where many lives depended on the oil and gas industry.

It wasn’t until I became an east coast so-called “city slicker” that I realized just how much the average American despised the oil industry. It was ironic since almost everyone I knew owned a car and depended on small towns like my former hometown, Roosevelt, Utah, to fuel their auto. While much of the oil in the 1980s came from foreign interest, much of the oil of the last 10 years was cultivated directly from the American supply. Thanks, Obama.

What that meant was that plenty of good American petroleum companies were reaping huge rewards. They were no longer just refineries for Iran and Iraq, but for states like Texas, and yes, Utah. All of those dead dinosaurs we’d been finding bones for also left a treasure trove of oil. Made in America could actually be applied to our oil reserve, too.

I never worked in the oilfields of Utah, but I did benefit from them. When I was a volunteer actor in a social program called “Kids with Energy,” where I traveled to high schools around my state teaching them about everything from the dangers of drunk driving to child abuse, we had the support of the American Petroleum Institute. They liked our message and funded it. It breaks my heart a little to let them down now.

When I pump gas into my own car, I love saving money. Still, I’m met with the cold reality that people like my brother Ken, whom I rarely speak to these days due to some personal issues, could lose his livelihood because of gas prices. Don’t get me wrong; I love saving money. I just don’t like that it may happen at the expense of people I love.

So…while you’re all high-fiving each other on your gas-pump savings, remember that really good people in small towns across America will be losing everything they have because gas prices are low.