American Petroleum Institute focuses on positive environmental change

The American Petroleum Institute (API), which represents all natural gas and oil industry segments, hosted its annual State of American Energy Wednesday.

API President and CEO Mike Sommers spoke about a cleaner energy future and the economy.

“When Americans talk about energy, the conversation often results in an either/or debate,” Sommers said. “We’ve become conditioned to pit using energy against making environmental progress. Yet history has shown this is a false choice: both developing energy and reducing emissions are essential to advance our society and protect the environment. Without energy and environmental progress, we risk national security, quality of life, and the American experiment.”

Sommers also announced API Energy Excellence, an initiative designed to accelerate environmental and safety progress industry-wide. API members will deploy state of the art technologies, implement systems and processes, share best practices, and report their progress.

API’s 2021 State of American Energy report highlights policies for the new administration, Congress, and state policymakers and highlights industry accomplishments.

Highlights include supporting 10 million jobs nationwide, growing the infrastructure network by 12 percent over the past five years, and contributing more than $14 billion to state treasuries in 2019.

More than 2,000 people attended the virtual event.