American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers Calls on President Obama to Take Action on Domestic Energy

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Charles T. Drevna, president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (previously the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association) issued the following statement in response to President Obama's State of the Union Address Tuesday night:

"We've always advocated for increased domestic energy production and increased domestic manufacturing of fuels and petrochemicals to serve the American people. Our members have been manufacturing essential products for 110 years and today support jobs for 2 million hard-working Americans. While President Obama is correct that creating new manufacturing jobs and producing more domestic energy is critically important, we wish he would work with us constructively to enact regulatory and tax policies to preserve existing manufacturing jobs held by Americans today in our industries and others. Continuing to demonize our industries and falsely claiming we get subsidies is counterproductive and leads to job destruction instead of job creation.   

"We call on President Obama, federal agencies and Congress to work with us to make the president's hopes for greater American energy self-sufficiency and increased manufacturing employment a reality. This can be accomplished by eliminating harmful and counterproductive federal overregulation, including seemingly endless permit delays that block America's access to domestic oil and natural gas and make it difficult for fuel and petrochemical manufacturing plants to operate. Overregulation accomplishes little or nothing to improve our environment, but destroys jobs, increases energy costs, and threatens our economic and national security.

"President Obama should create a framework of sensible regulation and pro-consumer policies that will allow American energy companies to compete on a global basis and on a level playing field with other countries around the world. Far too many American manufacturing jobs have been lost to other nations in recent years. We need to stop this exodus of jobs and reduce the intolerably high unemployment rate that is devastating millions of American families.

"In addition, President Obama should reverse his unfortunate decision blocking construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline could bring us 700,000 barrels of oil each day from Canada and from North Dakota and Montana to benefit the American people. This vital project has already been subject to three years of permit delays and should be approved now because it is unquestionably in our national interest."    

About AFPM

AFPM, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (formerly known as NPRA, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association) is a trade association representing high-tech American manufacturers of virtually the entire U.S. supply of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, other fuels and home heating oil, as well as the petrochemicals used as building blocks for thousands of vital products in daily life. AFPM members make modern life possible and keep America moving and growing as they meet the needs of our nation and local communities, strengthen economic and national security, and support 2 million American jobs.

SOURCE American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers