Oil and gas group begins election push

The nation’s top oil and gas advocacy group unveiled a “Vote 4 Energy” campaign Wednesday to put an election-year focus on domestic oil and gas production, The Times-Picayune reports. Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, says the campaign won’t pick sides or endorse candidates as America elects a president and new Congress. But the campaign will advocate an end to the “onslaught of regulations” he said makes it harder for the United States to become more energy-independent, positions generally supported by congressional Republicans and GOP presidential candidates. In what was billed as a “State of American Energy” speech, Gerard says if the industry is allowed to develop more oil and gas reserves, both onshore and offshore—and alternative energy sources are advanced—America can become largely energy-independent by 2026. A friendlier federal regulatory environment, Gerard says, would create American jobs, create revenue for both federal and state governments and strengthen national security. “It’s going to take more than tweaking current policies at the margins,” Gerard said in a speech delivered at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. “It’s going to take a course correction.” Read the full story here.