WASHINGTON – Following President Trump’s memorandum in support of the U.S. Shale industry, issued today, Anne Bradbury, AXPC’s CEO released the following statement:

“Ensuring we have a supply of affordable, reliable energy supports our country’s economy and energy security, while also ensuring our air and water are the cleanest in a generation.   Energy produced in the United States is the cleanest and safest in the world – and subject to stringent environmental standards.  When we protect our ability to produce energy here, we are protecting our way of life and a great American industry.

“We appreciate the President’s support for hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling – technologies that are responsible for the environmental progress this country has achieved over the last decade. These innovations, led by U.S. independent oil and gas producers, have allowed us to increase energy production to support our national security, while also reducing emissions and supporting millions of jobs and billions in revenue to states across the country.”

BACKGROUND:
The Presidential memorandum issued by President Trump builds on President George W. Bush’s Executive Order on energy projects, issued in 2001, stating: “I am requiring that agencies shall prepare a Statement of Energy Effects when undertaking certain agency actions. As described more fully below, such Statements of Energy Effects shall describe the effects of certain regulatory actions on energy supply, distribution, or use.”

Technological advancements like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling further environmental progress. Hydraulic fracturing is responsible for some of the cleanest energy in the world – the technology has allowed us to increase energy production, while also reducing emissions.

• More than 95 percent of U.S. natural gas and oil wells today are developed using hydraulic fracturing.
• According to the Bureau of Land Management, onshore federal lands produce about 8 percent of the nation’s oil and 9 percent of its natural gas.
• Since 2010, the U.S. shale revolution saw natural gas production nearly double, while U.S. total energy-related CO2 emissions declined significantly.
• In 2019, as a result of fracking and increased natural gas production, the U.S. reduced CO2 emissions by 140 million tonnes, the largest reduction of any country according to the International Energy Agency.
• Because of fracking U.S. emissions reductions have outpaced the rest of the world.  According to the EPA, from 2005 to 2018, total U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions fell by 12 percent, while global energy-related emissions increased nearly 24 percent during this period.
• Methane emissions from oil and natural gas systems are down 23 percent since 1990, according to the 2020 edition of EPA’s Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks

Fracking supports good-paying American jobs across America.

• Oil and natural gas companies provide 1 million direct upstream onshore jobs, and over 2 million direct, indirect and induced jobs across the country.
• Our industry’s workforce is 33 percent minorities and 20 percent women.

• Natural gas and oil industry sector-projects are higher paying, provide better health and retirement benefits, have more long-term job growth opportunities, and are more stable careers than jobs in renewable energy, according to a national survey of union and nonunion workers by North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU).

Upstream oil and gas production provides hundreds of thousands of jobs in states across the country and billions of dollars in revenue for state and local economies.

About the American Exploration and Production Council:
AXPC is a national trade association representing the largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the United States. We lead the world in the cleanest and safest onshore production of oil and gas, while supporting millions of Americans in high-paying jobs and investing a wealth of resources in our communities. Learn more at https://axpc.org/