Ben Shepperd,
PBPA President
With Legislative sessions beginning in both Santa Fe, N.M., and Austin, Texas, and the early days of the Biden Administration taking shape, it is clear that domestic energy, and in particular the way of life in the Permian Basin, is in the crosshairs.
That is why our work at PBPA remains so important. We are working daily to educate elected officials and advocate on your behalf. In countless meetings with member companies and elected officials, we are discussing their legislative priorities and the challenges we are already seeing in the bills being filed in the Texas Capitol and the New Mexico Roundhouse.
The fact remains that our legislative leaders around the country rely heavily on the economic strength of the oil and gas industry and our country is better for it. Your work each and every day makes America safer and more energy secure. Unfortunately, despite that importance, lawmakers have chosen to target policies that may seem popular, but will create long term challenges for everyday Americans.
No energy source, despite all of the claims, provide more consistent, reliable, or affordable energy than the oil and gas industry, and none can fuel the needs of citizens or our military like our energy does. Our country needs this energy and it is better for our nation to produce it domestically with the regulatory safeguards we have in place now, rather than import it from volatile governments with no interest in environmental stewardship.
Your work is responsible for the ability of Texan and New Mexican governments to put tax dollars in vital transportation, public health, and public education investments that benefit all those that live, work, and raise their families in this country.
In these times we have to ask ourselves, what is at stake?
To put it simply, policies that aim to make it more difficult to develop our natural resources will increase cost and scarcity for Americans and those costs will be seen in everything we buy. The transportation costs of things like milk, eggs, and more will rise, and this could create a pinch for pocketbooks that continue to shrink from the effects of the ongoing pandemic.
Despite the energy industry helping to develop the vaccine in the laboratory setting and the industry supplying the energy necessary to keep both vaccines at temperatures between 5 degrees and -94 degrees, our industry still suffers from the ill-informed attacks that exist in the public space and in the halls of government.
PBPA, and your involvement in PBPA, remain vital to the success of the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin. When all is said and done, it is always better done than said, and our work will be measured by you continuing to safely and responsibly develop natural resources in the Permian Basin.
Now, more than ever, we need to know your thoughts and concerns, and to have your support to ensure that the next generation that calls the Permian Basin home is as blessed as we have been. Thank you for all that you do and please let us know if we can be of assistance.