On February 2, three Energy Workforce & Technology Council CEOs joined Minority Leader McCarthy (R-CA-23) and other congressional members for a roundtable discussion of energy issues at Enterprise Products in Houston. Council CEOs were Board Member Warren Zemlak, BJ Energy Solutions, Clay Williams, NOV, and Cindy Taylor, Oil States International.
The event brought attention to the economic and employment implications of President Biden’s executive actions on energy production, including his moratorium on federal leasing and the Keystone permit rescission.
Council CEOs were joined by members of Congress representing energy producing districts, including Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-2), Kevin Brady (R-TX-8), Troy Nehls (R-TX-22), Brian Babin (R-TX-36) and others. They expressed concern about potential job losses throughout the country.
“For the last year now, they’ve had to deal with COVID-19,” Nehls said, who represents a large swath of Fort Bend and southern Harris Counties. “We’re seeing the American family struggle each and every day, and now they get sucker punched again.”
Brady, who represents The Woodlands and surrounding areas echoed this sentiment.
“Millions of Americans are jobless thanks to the pandemic, and President Biden’s top priority, while defeating the virus, is getting Americans back to work,” Brady said. “It’s troubling that in his first weeks in office, he took steps to deliberately kill more than a million good-paying jobs. Many are blue-collar. Many of them are union. Many of them are here in Texas.”
The Council thanks Member Company CEOs for participating in this event and for lending their voice to the fight against these executive orders. The Council is leading a coalition of trade associations to battle the federal leasing ban and has been conducting numerous meetings with elected officials over the past few weeks.
The Council and the coalition will meet with New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham this week as part of these efforts.
If you’d like to get involved with this initiative or need additional information, please contact SVP Government Affairs & Counsel Tim Tarpley.
