Several congressional leaders are aggressively promoting “green jobs” as US President Barack H. Obama develops his New Energy for America plan. A leading oil and gas trade association executive thinks they should encourage what he calls “blue jobs” as well.
“Roughly 5.8 million Americans are employed in and supported by the natural gas and oil industries. We call these ‘blue jobs,’ taking that image from the blue flame that comes from clean-burning natural gas,” said Natural Gas Supply Association Pres. R. Skip Horvath.
“We fully support the creation of more ‘green jobs,’ but we’ll be wearing our ‘blue jobs’ buttons when we meet with political leaders in Washington this year. We want them to better understand how vital our industry is,” Horvath said Jan. 14 during a US Energy Association briefing.
“Solar and wind are the green energy forms everyone knows, but it takes blue to make green work. Fly-wheels, chemical batteries, compressed air, and elevated water are future technologies that may someday be able to help solar and wind store energy, but the technology that’s available now to back up these generation sources is natural gas,” Horvath said.
160,000 more jobs
During fourth-quarter 2008, as the US economy contracted, oil and gas extraction firms added 16,000 jobs compared to the comparable 2007 period, Horvath said. He also cited figures from a study by ICF International for the American Petroleum Institute that indicated on Dec. 8 that opening domestic supply areas could create 160,000 jobs.
For every person directly employed in the oil and gas industry, another two work for companies that support the business, Horvath observed. “We are talking about approximately 6 million people employed directly or indirectly by natural gas and oil firms,” he said.
Gas also is a key US manufacturing component, Horvath said. “One third of America’s natural gas is used to create everything from trash bags and pantyhose to antifreeze and detergent,” he said.
When gas is green
The American Gas Association, meanwhile, applauded US Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) on Jan. 23 for his bill to provide a tax incentive to turn noxious waste into usable gas by increasing gas production from animal waste, landfills, and renewable biomass.
“The natural gas from this process is a ‘green’ fuel. By taking a waste product and converting it to a valuable fuel, we create a source of domestic supply that benefits the consumers of natural gas. AGA believes this fiscally responsible proposal should be included in the stimulus package that is being considered in Congress,” AGA Pres. David N. Parker said.
Finally, in its comprehensive energy strategy, the Obama administration included prioritized construction of a gas pipeline from Alaska as part of a program to create 5 million green jobs in the next 10 years.