Interior Secretary Salazar Speaks in Copenhagen
Jack Gerard
Posted December 14, 2009
Last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar delivered the keynote address at the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen.
In his speech, Secretary Salazar pointed out that public lands are vital to the nation's energy future, both in producing alternative energy and supplying the oil and natural gas available there in massive quantities, which could generate thousands of new jobs if allowed to be developed. Public lands also have potential for managing greenhouse gas emissions, using carbon capture and storage technology pioneered by America's oil and natural gas industry many years ago.
We share the Secretary's optimism for alternative energy and would note the oil and gas industry's more than $58 billion in investments in low carbon technologies between 2000 and 2008, more than the federal government or the rest of the private sector combined. Oil and natural gas companies have invested in everything from lithium batteries to geothermal power to solar cells and are already producing alternative energy Americans use today.
Read more about how America's oil and natural gas industry is addressing climate change.
About The Author
Jack N. Gerard is president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute (API), the national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry. He also has served as the president and CEO of trade associations representing the chemical and mining industries. Jack understands how Washington works. He spent several years working in the U.S. Senate and House, and co-founded a Washington-based government relations consulting firm. A native of Idaho, Jack also is very active in the Boy Scouts of America, a university graduate program on politics, and his church’s leadership. He and his wife are the proud parents of eight children, including twin boys adopted from Guatemala.