Energizing Virginia
Reid Porter
Posted June 29, 2015
Here on the blog we regularly point to the national economic and job impacts of energy development: 9.8 million jobs supported, and $1.2 trillion in value added to the economy – accounting for 8 percent of our national GDP. Over the next few weeks we want to bring the focus to the state level, highlighting those impacts in each of the 50 states. We’ll start with … Virginia.
Click on the thumbnail to bring up a two-page snapshot of energy’s benefits to the commonwealth.
The top-line numbers: more than 141,000 jobs supported statewide, according to PwC ; $12.5 billion added to the state economy; $7.2 billion contributed to the state’s labor income. All are significant drivers for the state’s economy.
Page 2 of the document highlights the potential economic benefits to Virginia of offshore oil and natural gas development. It also includes a graphic breaking down the energy Virginia uses by type, as well as a link to recent polling that shows how Virginians feel about key energy issues.
Energy is critically important to Virginia, serving as a key engine for the state economy – expanding job opportunities and offering the hope of prosperity to individual Virginians and their families.
The future benefits of energy for Virginia – and the rest of the country – largely depend on national decisions on the country’s energy path. A new Wood Mackenzie study contrasts the benefits that a set of pro-development policies could have on energy supplies, jobs, the economy and American households with the likely negative effects on energy of regulatory constrained policies. The key comparisons are found on the first page of the linked document.
Energy is essential for all facets of our daily lives, from powering national, state and local economies to powering the family vehicle. Safe, responsible development of domestic oil and natural gas resources is linked to individual prosperity, energy security and basic liberties.
About The Author
Reid Porter is a spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute. Before joining API, he worked as Account Supervisor at Edelman. Porter double majored in English Literature and the Spanish language at Middlebury College in Vermont. He enjoys traveling, cheering for the Green Bay Packers, soccer, rereading Hemingway novels and spending time with family.