EnergyFactor By ExxonMobil | Pespectives has a new home

Energy and the Economy

Helping the heartland

Posted: November 28, 2012 by Ken Cohen

USA Today had a front page story this week that provides valuable perspective on the dramatic economic impact unleashed by the development of unconventional oil and gas across the country. The headline is clear enough: “Wealth rises in USA’s heartland.” The story points out that energy production “is driving up income so fast in a few hundred small towns and rural areas that it’s shifting prosperity to the nation’s heartland.”

The U.S. Senate can give American workers and manufacturers a big boost – and at the same time support free trade and international cooperation – by following the lead of the House of Representatives and passing Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with Russia. Doing so will help fully open the world’s ninth-largest economy to U.S. exporters. But a failure to act will keep U.S. manufacturers at a significant disadvantage compared to international competitors.


NPR helps build energy literacy

Posted: November 6, 2012 by Ken Cohen

American politicians often say we should pursue the goal of “energy independence.” But it’s worth asking if achieving what that slogan implies is even possible. And if so, what would “energy independence” actually look like? Give credit to NPR’s Morning Edition for asking just those questions recently. In a series of penetrating segments, NPR exposed the problems with energy independence – and in the process helped listeners better understand what our real energy policy goals should be.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently delivered a speech on the entwined topics of energy and diplomacy that deserves a lot more attention than it received. Secretary Clinton’s remarks amounted to a one-day news story in the middle of a hotly contested election. That’s a shame, because there’s a lot in the speech to recommend.


You’ve heard the term “throwing the baby out with the bathwater”? In essence, that’s what the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did by issuing regulations designed to foster transparency about legal payments U.S.-listed companies make to foreign governments in the course of doing business. Promoting transparency is a good idea, but the SEC’s rules will end up hurting U.S. businesses and may even harm legitimate efforts to increase transparency.

There are a lot of good story lines in the IHS study on unconventional oil and natural gas that I mentioned yesterday, from the millions of new jobs created to the trillions of dollars of investment and tax revenues expected over the next several decades. One aspect of the jobs story to catch my eye is the positive impact that the unconventional resource revolution will have on what the report classifies as blue-collar jobs.



  • Worth a deeper look...