Will oil and gas matter in 2016?

The question was inevitable. The American Petroleum Institute had just released results on June 21 of the latest telephone survey it commissioned, which found most US voters support more US oil and gas development and are more likely to back a candidate who shares that view.

So it was only logical that a panel of four political campaign experts, who were on the event's program as a follow-up, were asked why issues important to the oil and gas industry had not become part of the 2016 election contests.

The experts were momentarily stumped. Then, slowly, they agreed that personalities had dominated the campaigns so far, and the two major parties' presumptive nominees at least had not yet discussed any issues so far. That makes this a better time for oil and gas industry advocates to educate voters and candidates than when they are angry because prices are high. "Now is when the industry should be working hardest," one of the experts said.

"We should be looking at what this energy renaissance can do for the public as a whole," API Pres. Jack N. Gerard said. "It could be capable of addressing poverty and other issues more broadly, and not just jobs."

It's clearly in the industry's long-term interest to emphasize careers as much as jobs. Professionals capable of finding, producing, and transporting oil and gas will need to be especially resourceful as pressure increases to change the ground rules because of growing climate concerns. Minimizing impacts also matters more as activity moves increasingly from sparsely populated rural areas to sites near commuter communities close to population centers.

Candidates farther down the ballot from Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump also should be cultivated. Governors and state legislators, along with local leaders, matter too. If they can be convinced that facilitating more oil and gas activity provides broader economic benefits that translate into votes, many would be less likely to cave in to environmental activists' demands to "leave it in the ground."

Where sides coexist

There are some signs that energy and environmental interests are coming together. Many states' oil and gas divisions now are part of environmental protection departments. Several larger universities' petroleum studies departments have become parts of more comprehensive energy, environment, and climate schools.

The biggest challenge this election could be addressing the needs of people who feel they have been left behind. There were enough to vote Great Britain out of the European Union. There may be enough of them to affect final results in the US in November. The oil and gas industry would be the big winner if its positive messages won their support.