Jan 9, 2019 3 min read

You could feel the energy through your landline as Mike Sommers opened the program.

“Our focus is on what we call America’s ‘Generation Energy,’ because of the remarkable dual achievement of production at a high level while driving emissions down dramatically. This would not have happened without clean natural gas.”

Sommers is president and chief executive officer of American Petroleum Institute, which describes itself on its website as “the only national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry.”

He was at the forefront of API’s annual State of American Energy event Tuesday, fielding media questions during a morning press conference call, then in the afternoon delivering a keynote address and monitoring a discussion among energy company leaders. Sommers spoke in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.

Speaking electronically and live to separate audiences, the API leader touted U.S. energy production for being the “gold standard” for other nations – an industry that is robust while protecting the environment. The United States, Sommer pointed out, is the world’s top producer of natural gas and oil, while adding it has reduced carbon emissions faster than any other country.

“This has been an American success story, and we want to ensure that this industry continues to succeed.”

Sommers spoke, coincidentally, on a day when energy stood at a couple of other national podiums.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf issued an executive order Tuesday establishing targets to profoundly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is a state with an abundance of fossil fuels that, historically, has generated a lot of pollution. Wolf said the commonwealth has been affected by climate change, and attempting to curtail further issues is important. His goals are to reduce emissions by 26 percent by 2025 (based on 2005 levels), and 50 percent by 2050.

And speaking of emissions … the Washington Post reported that Rhodium Group, an independent economic research company, on Tuesday published findings from research it did on carbon dioxide emissions. Rhodium, according to the Post, found that those emissions increased an estimated three to four percent in 2018. This, of course, is at a time when scientists say emissions should be drastically decreased, and a year or so before President Donald Trump said he plans to officially pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord.

Sommers was upbeat about his industry during his media Q-and-A and his keynote address to the D.C. luncheon crowd. He said: “Stable, affordable energy is reviving American manufacturing, restoring jobs we used to hear were gone forever. Manufacturers have saved tens of billions of dollars in energy costs – a lot of capital freed up for investment.

“I’m talking about places like Beaver County, Pa., where a new petrochemical plant is going to be a welcome sight after a generation of facilities closing one after another. ‘Now,’ as one resident said, ‘kids growing up here have a reason to stay home and get a decent job.'”