The United States produces more oil and natural gas than any country in history. We have the most productive fields, the best engineers, and the deepest capital markets anywhere. But families in Maine and Pennsylvania are asking a fair question. Why do conflicts on the other side of the world still decide what they pay to heat their home in January?
The answer is that production is only the first link in the chain. Washington needs to clear the barriers that keep our full potential locked up and build energy resilience that lasts generations. That work is unglamorous, and some of it is treated as third rail. Too bad. It is time for policymakers to get past that, put consumers first, and do the hard work.
Start with refining. Our refineries were rebuilt for the heavy, sour crude we import, not the light, sweet crude American producers deliver today. We ship our own oil abroad and buy someone else's products. We operate 130 refineries, down from 301 in 1982, and no major new refinery has been completed in fifty years. Permitting reform is debated year after year, yet Washington keeps chasing its own tail.
Then there is shipping. A century-old law, the Jones Act, restricts our ability to carry American-made energy between our own ports. The current waiver is exposing how acute the problem is, and we are pressing for an extension through the winter. But a long-term solution is needed to allow fuel to be moved from where it is refined to where it is used.
Inaction has consequences. It is distillate this winter. It was propane in the winter of 2014. It was electricity in Texas in 2021. It was natural gas in 2022. The most energy-rich nation in history remains exposed every time the weather turns or a war breaks out. Sure, energy is a global marketplace and will stay one. But putting American families first means meeting it from a position of strength and action.
A nation with our resources should absorb a shock abroad without passing extraordinary hardships on to American consumers. That means permitting reform and investments in refining capacity, product pipelines and terminals, and American workers. We need a policy framework built for the way fuel moves and a firm national commitment to energy choice.
Things won’t change overnight and the challenges of this winter remain. Talk to your customers about them. Make sure they know that when they are hurting, you are hurting too. Explain that no local company sets global prices. Offer every budget plan and assistance referral you can. If they are looking for someone to blame, point them toward Washington. We all need to keep pressing our public officials until they write into law the kinds of policies that put consumers first, make energy resilience a long-term priority, and allows our energy economy to reach its full potential.
Meanwhile, you will do what this industry has always done: deliver for the families, communities, and businesses you serve. It is time policymakers did the same.
