Sullivan. President and ceo of Small Business of entrepreneurship counsel, karen carrigan. President of the services association, leslie buyer. Skilled trades advocate and Television Host mike rowe, and our panel moderator, Global Industry services, Debra Philips. Well, good afternoon. Im Debra Philips and i run a part of api that mike and megan have mentioned earlier today but not very many in this town know much about. Our more than 120 employees and more than 7,000 volunteers worldwide develop standards and programs that drive safety, environmental performance, sustainability and Energy Efficiency throughout the oil and gas industry here and around the world. Im joined on stage with four folks that have unique and wellpositioned perspectives regarding Americas Energy future, and theyre here to share that with us today. Just to do a brief reintroduction of our panelists, Terry Osullivan to your left. Karen carrigan representing Small Businesses and entrepreneurs. Next to karen we have leslie buyer who represents companies that provide critical equipment and services to the industry. And our celebriety guest, mike rowe who you know probably from dirty jobs but also a Skilled Trades advocate here in this country. We dont have much time. Im going to jump right in. Karen, you get the first question. You represent Small Companies and entrepreneurs and dont always immediately think about energy and oil and gas in terms of the primary interests of your organization. Can you talk a little bit about why its so important to your companies . And whats on their minds . A lot is on their mind giving the competitive global economy. But we sbe council always makes the point, a big point, about understand underscoring the role of entrepreneurs in the oil and natural gas indtry. They actually dominate this industry. U. S. Energy has been a consistent good news story and both Small Businesses have benefited. As consumers and Small Businesses in the industry. So for example, among oil and gas extraction companies, 90 have fewer than 20 employees, 96 have fewer than 100. Oil and grs gas drilling companies, numbers are the same, about 96 or so, fewer than 100, 86 have fewer than 20 employees. All sectors, whether equipment, manufacturing, pipeline, related, its really Small Businesses that are driving innovation in this industry. And i love seeing all the videos of the Women Entrepreneurs in this industry. Obviously Women Entrepreneurship is booming, and to have the opportunity for women to engage in this industry, bring more diversity in the industry, is very important. Innovation can be diversity fuels innovation, which will help bring our industry to the next level and make it more affordable. With respect to cost thats the big thing, for any business but more Small Businesses to have this consistent to not, you know, when we think about 15 years ago and, you know, when we were up on the hill talking about the concern that Small Business owners have about price shocks, you know, to their bottom line, to have stable and con sint costs is so important for Small Businesses in terms of allowing them to invest, compete, hire, do all the things they do to keep our economy growing. So its vital. Obviously i love mikes point about the policies to encourage. But it is entrepreneurs and Small Businesses at the heart. Not only the industry but the engine of the american economy. Absolutely. Thanks, karen. Terry, youre next. Good paying middle class jobs are really the lifeblood of your area. Can you talk a little bit about what its meant for your membership and as you look forward what are the policies that are necessary to sustain those kinds of opportunities and potentially expand them . I want to first thank you. Thank mike summers in api. We have a Great Partnership and relationship with api and your member firm. Think on behalf of the 510,000 men and women in the nation. The natural gas, Oil Energy Sector for us is thriving. I know one of my brothers is here, the teamsters, the pipeline crafts, and we have seen you dont want to use explosion when youre talking about natural gas, but thats what we have seen in our organization and in the industry. These kind of energy jobs are a pathway to the middle class. They provide hope, opportunity, good wages, with good benefits. And thats what we stand for and thats what the partnership with api provides. I do have a few examples, i cant memorize them all. Ill talk a minute about some of the challenges. We have the Atlantic Coast pipeline or dakota access, i had over 1,600 laborers on that job and im not talking about for a week or month. Im talking about a year or more. Over 4,500 Building Trades men and woman. Rover, over 3,000 construction workers, multipleyear project. Atlantic sunrise, 2,500. Line three relacement in minnesota 3,000. Atlanta pipeline which has challenges, there is going to be about 1,200 construction laborers on it. We have i saw one of the representatives here from western pennsylvania, theres a cracker plant that has 7,500 construction workers on that facility. So the potential is incredible. And as i said, weve seen an absolute thriving, the Energy Sector and our organization, oil, gas, we also support wind, solar, were doing a big Nuclear Facility in georgia. What are some of the challenges . Im at least encouraged on thursday the president is going to propose changes to nepa to expedite the permitting process, the Environmental Review process. We talk about infrastructure, want as much money for that as we can get. But when Infrastructure Projects and Energy Projects take ten years, 12 years, im not going to go through the list of them but i have a project in taos, new mexico, an airport project, over 20 years to get the approval for a runway expansion. Another project where its a roadway with a bridge, 16 years through the process, the review, the regulation process. And here those of you that are from the d. C. Area, we have the purple line. Some of it was litigation, but it took 14 years for that to get off the ground. Nepa needs to be changed. Its a 50yearold regulation that needs changes. We need to be thoughtful about environmental impact. Not to rush it through to harm the environment or workers. But it needs to be changed. And we have too many gutless politicians here in washington, d. C. And across the country that are pandering to extremists on all fronts who licking their fingers and seeing which way the political winds are blowing instead of talking with us in the sector, business, labor, suppliers and the like, to figure out how we move our Energy Policy forward in a way that we dont have the keystone excel pipelines, we dont have the 10 east or the atlanta coast pipeline, on again, off again, because of political whims. Between changes to nepa, having politicians that actually start standing up instead of licking their fingers, and some other things i think that were just scratching the surface of this energy ren nance. Its good for business, its good for the economy and good for working men and women that all they want to do is be able to keep a roof over their head, food on their table, and provide for themselves and their families. applause thank you, thank you terry. You bring up an important point about infrastructure investment. I think a recent study has incated that we need more than a trillion dollars in investment in infrastructure in order to keep up with growing Global Energy demand. So critical. My next question is for you, mike, our celebrity guest. Youve spent a lot of time on the front lines talking to american workers, hearing their stories, retelling them on your broadcast, including spending time with workers in our industry. As you know theyre very, very proud not only of what they do but in terms of what weve been able to achieve, and with regard to this new American Energy leadership age. My question is, how do we tell that story of progress and bring that pride that our workers feel about what weve accomplished in our industry outside to the rest of the American Workforce . Yeah, thank you for having me here, for the celebrity opinion. Look, for what its worth, i have opinions. I have opinions about the ichb infrastructure and about organized labor and about the widening skills gap and unemployment and all these things. But nobody would have ever given me a seat at any table or on any panel if we hadnt found a way to build a platform from which to share those ideas. For me that was a show called dirty jobs. And i spent ten years crawling through sewers and doing unthinkable things barnyard animals in an attempt to get the audiences attention. Once we did that we got a weird level of permission to talk really honestly and really candidly about the evolving, every changing definition of what a good job means. Back in the day, that was 2003. Today in 2020, were still doing the same thing. Were trying to make a persuasive case for opportunities that actually exist. Dirty jobs gave me a chance to do a lot of different things, but the thing im most proud of in 2008 was the evolution of a foundation called microworks. And the goal of microworks, to your point, is to tell the stories of people who managed to prosper by mastering a trade and learning a skill that was actually in demand. So for the last 10 years or so, 12 years, weve been offering work ethic scholarships, modest, in many cases people who want to get into the industry. The biggest impediment to the growth we all want to see has to do with the broader perceptions and the stigmas and the stereotypes, and the misperceptions that affirmatively keep parents and guidance kounz lore from encouraging their kids to enter into that sector as work that as my grandfather said, looks like work. Right . Were still lending money we dont have to kids who are never going to be able to pay it back to train them for jobs that dont actually exist anymore. And were still tacitly promising that the value of a fouryear degree is somehow going to translate into a magic ticket. And kids are still under the mistaken assumption that the odds are in their favor that theyre going to find their dream job in their chosen major when they get out. Theres been a giant reckoning. And the consequences of that reckoning in my view are nothing short of national security. We have 1. 6 trillion in Student Loans currently on the books. We often talk about what a burden that is for the kids who hold that note, and it surely is. But hello, we hold the note too. 1. 6 trillion. Were still telling kids the best path for the most people is the most expensive path. Meanwhile we have 7. 3 million open jobs in the skills gap, many of which are in your industry, many of which dont require a fouryear degree. But for whatever reason weve got it in our heads that those jobs are in some way sub oert nat. Theyve become vocational consolation prizes. So thats a long way of saying, part of what you have to do is change the conversation. Part of what you have to do is educate 330 Million People not just about the opportunities in your industry but the realty of their dependence on your product. We have profoundly disconnected, im afraid, in so many ways. That was a big lesson in dirty jobs. We were able to reconnect people to the miracle of electricity coming on when you flick the switch. Or the equally miraculous occurance when you flush the toilet and everything goes where its supposed to go. These are miracles and the people who make those miracles happen were the heroes of our show. So the short version is, you have to educate, you have to to, you have to fight them on the policy level, terry, absolutely right. But we also have to, in a very siso fooen way where or maybe kwiksotic, push the boulder up the hill. We have to change the conversation about the definition of a good job and tackle the misperceptions head on. If half the country comes to the conclusion that its all over in 12 years, well then none of these ideas and policies are ever going to work. So its a very, very broad way of saying, tough get the countrys attention and then persuade them. And the way you persuade them in my view is not just to preach to the choir, but to talk to the folks in the middle in a persuasive way that leads them to understand, this is a human condition, we wind up resenting that which we come to depend upon. Its crazy, but we do it all the time. I live in northern california. Two months ago we were without power for four days. I finally started to have conversations with my neighbors about the reality of the situation. But sometimes things have to go splat. Right . Lose your power for four days, the conversation changes. Nobody wants to see that happen again. But we have to change the narrative. Hard work, but necessary work. Okay. I want to come back to Skilled Labor here in a minute. Before i do i want to get leslie in on the conversation. You represent companies that supply equipment to the Natural Gas Industry. How does your industry think about recent policy proposals that would ban fracturing, limit exploration land, how does your industry respond to that . And how does that affect the American Consumer . So thank you for having me. I appreciate being able to hept the services, a critical part of the industry. Mike touched on in in his opening remarks. We talk about a fracking ban and i think its important for all of us to recognize its not just at the National Level that were seeing these threats. Certainly at the state level in new york, you see outright ban, california, moratorium on new permitting, colorado pushing regulatory activities out to the local level. We have to keep an eye on that. Also with the discussion around the fracking bans, you see two candidates right now calling for an outright ban on the first day that theyre elected. And the others pretty much saying that they would attempt to ban on federal lands. I think the political reality of that is that a president could likely enact a fracking ban on federal public lands. But most of that unconventional activity occurs on private lands. What what it would look like most likely is just a regulatory creep. And the administration, this administration by a vote mated president could take actions through the clean air, clean water act, to create a de facto ban. You know, that would require congressional action, and we wouldnt likely see that unless the senate were to flip. But we already talked about what fracking has given to the industry. I mean, how its changed our geopolitical position, how its pole sterd our economy and reduced emissions at the same time that we had all this production growth, we also reduce the reduced emissions. So to pull off a technology that has begin all of this is kneejerk and wouldnt even get to the heart of the goal. And i think weve seen the recent study by the chamber talk about what we would lose at the economic level, you know, gasoline prices double, electricity prices quadruple, geopolitically return to our alliance on the middle east, thats pretty scary especially this week. We changed our trade deficit. Were in a great position. Most importantly then that emissions, the emissions would go up because of the market share natural gas has taken over coal. We have to get back to the technology and innovation. So Many Companies are looking at were all investing in collaboration with renewable technologies. Again, the Oil Field Service companies that are Energy Technology companies are investing in water recycling and reuse, automation, a. I. In the oil field is real. Like karen said that opens up the Energy Industry to a new workforce. The fracking is not the dirty job that it doesedused to be. There are technologies being developed that are going to continue to make sure that the u. S. Can keep our position that we gained through all of this shale revolution but also really be able to allow us to attract a new workforce thats going to keep us there back to the technology and innovation. Thanks. I want to spend another minute on innovation. As you mentioned, hydraulic fracturing, horizontal drilling are innovations that have changed here domestically and globalingly. On the horizon, now technologies, carbon capture, abatement technologies in the pipeline to fight climate change, energy storage, remote technology, chemical recycling of petroleum prods. How products. How do you see the Technology Space affecting that . What kind of atmospheres do we need to continue to innovate and problem solve for the future . Do you want me to start with that . Sure. This is uniquely american. That horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, that was uniquely american. As we continue to develop that, we expert technologies. It has to be trade. Right now, you know, trade and tariffs, theyre just impacting the industry in such a significant way, specifically in Oil Field Services, we have to have a clear vision of what we can import ard export. Some of that is equipment and some specific technology. I think first and foremost at the policy level, it is focusing on free trade and policies that will support it. Karen, do you have a perspective on what can drive innovation . Respecting entrepreneurs andSmall Businesses that jump in . What do you see in the policy space to drive innovation . Obviously we need trade is very, very important. I think change is on the regulatory front permitting all that. Certainly from a tax perspective, getting entrepreneurs the opportunity to hold on to more of their capital and resources so they can invest in innovation is really critical. So continuous policy improvement on all these fronts. Again going back to trade, having market access, more growth, innovation, efficiency, its all a beautiful circle, if you will. But also we talked about diversification, you know, we need when you look at entrepreneurship and new business creation, we still havent recovered from the race of business creation from the great recession, right . And so a lot of the new business creation and the entrepreneurship is happening, its very concentrated in urban areas. And so but, you know, where do we see the opportunity with energy . It happens to be in rural america. It happens to be in exurban areas. And, you know, just i think again allowing development to continue, you know, not having these bans, is very critical to getting more minds and people involved in the Energy Sector in these regions, and that fuels innovation, right . Beyond the policies, you know, just again the diversity of people, you know, bringing in the opportunity again, you know, to rural, you know, america, is not only critical for Economic Development and hope and all of that but will fuel the innovation and the use of current technology, whether its robotics, Artificial Intelligence, 3 d printing, the sky is the limit. We never know where that next technological innovation will come from. And so again the again, theyll have to continue to fuel the investment. Stability i think on every front in certainty is very critical. I want to come back to the scale labor issue that is so ill frequently and passionately and terry talked to you about, what do you see as impediment to skills labor is critical in the industry, moving forward into the future. What do you see as impediments and also creating opportunities who really expand and make sure that the skills labor force is there for years to come as we continue to innovate and grow. Thats something thats critically important. If you are out recruiting young men and women, returning veterans which is a big source of recruiting for us. And at the end of the day, if you think natural gases is going to go away in ten years, whats the incentive to pick that as a career path. So i harp on the political innovation in the Industry Innovation and the innovation how we convince young men and women, individuals who are looking for a career of the Energy Sector is a vibrant and thriving area, one that we need to encourage more people to come to or instead of going away. I still think one of the impediments that jobs will be around and make a career out of it. We should be able to make a career and retire with the amount of work of opportunities that are out there in thriving sector. So i think whether it is education teams with parents or individuals that are not bound for college or went to college and figured out, maybe this is it for me and i am looking for a career change. We have to bundle it all together. Policies play a role. The nonsense thats going on in capitol hill, Green New Deal and some other things with all due respect chases people away instead of attract them because they think at the end of the day, i am going to go through training and start off in the sector and ten years from now, theyre telling me theyre going to pull the plug on. We are talking about backstage of diversity, if you want to talk about what you see in that area and future opportunities you see to make this industry, how diversity is represented among our employees. Sure, as energy evolves and grows, we look forward to getting more diverse viewpoints, we really will just, the technologies that we talked about and the way we need to move closer to a lower carbon future, diverse thinking ahead of those groups that are going to be leaving that charge is only going to benefit. We have seen studies that show market share gains and productivity gains, there is no question that a more diverse leadership or any company is going to help it. For us the industry specifically, we have got to be able to have policies thats been in our company thatll attract a diversable course and we are moving towards that. We have to be focused on that. It is for our work force thats going to really drive that innovation and change. I think we have some time and my colleagues will be moderating some questions for us. Go ahead and take it away. Let me ask you and a lot of questions, a lot of questions following up on how you attract folks into the skills labor. The most specific ones that is came up several times, how do you square this move towards Artificial Intelligence automation with the increasing need for craftsman. Mike, you want to take a crack for that one . He says ai . You are moving towards automation and you need more skills labor, how do you convince folks that you need both . When somebody says ai, i think of Artificial Intelligence, thats another story. We are not here to talk about the other thing. The reality is and for me and not a day goes by where somebody does not ask if the robots are going to take our jobs . It is a very simplistic and real fear. It has never happened. I remember with the bloomers. There were absolute certainty that jobs were going to vanish as a result of this existential thing. They always move and display but they never truly vanish. I am way ahead on this. I dont know, i suspect well all live to see selfdriving vehicles. I dont know if well see trucks down the road without a driver behind the Steering Wheel anyway. It is hard to imagine we are going to see that happening. We may but if it does, surely, things will have been reconfigured once again and new opportunities that we can currently conceive will arise. It is always, always happening that way. Yeah. Terry, do you have a perspective on this issue . We cant get in the way nor should we of innovation and automation. Training and retraining of our members is how we take advantage of automation, there is still going to be jobs and may be fewer jobs, if we can change the dynamics of Energy Industry, well create more jobs and so i think it is about being nimble and being understanding that things are going to change and embracing change and training for change and trying to build this out and up because there is enough potential in the Energy Sector that i think as automation takes in jobs, there will be other job opportunities. If we can train workers for that, they can take advantage of it in the Energy Sector. Those workers, thats a Diverse Group of workers that can take those jobs. It is a different kind of workers that was traditionally thats the whole point to be able to put those workers there. Some of these technologies take workers out of harms way. It is an opportunity for skills labor in some way. Bill, do you have another question for sure do. There are a lot of questions for the panel about looking back in time before the United States was exporting oil and gas to a time a decade ago and what that look like or suppliers and labor and Small Businesses across the country and what it will look like if we go back to a time where we were in a volatile situation . Terry, you want to kick us off . I can tell you are ready. So correct me if i am wrong, the question was if we rewind and go back to a time where america does not have this kind of Energy Independent anymore, there is more volatility in the market because of policy proposals or otherwise, what does that look like for the organizations and the individuals that you represent, if we were to rewind and go back to the atmospheric ten years ago, what does that do to your constituency. If you unplug energy, it will have a dramatic impact on our organization, more importantly it will have a devastating impact on the men and women that we represent. We turn their lives upside down at a time when they finally have hope and opportunity and making good money and having great benefits. That would disappear and given until we change our way of expediting the project on the infrastructure side. If we wind it all the way back. Today not so, it would have a tremendous and devastating impact on the lives of members that i represent and the other Building Trade Union stats who are here. It would turn it upside down. Who got the most skin of the game in terms of a Critical Mass . The fat part of the bat is 330 million americans. We dont have to imagine what the past looks like, it is 1973, the lions at the pump are miles long. We have a whole generation alive today that has no recollection of that. From a perception standpoint and again perception shapes reality, perception i believe informs policies, i think it would be a terrific idea to remind the country in crisp and clear and stark imagery of what the past looked like when we were utterly reliant on energy from other places and that we are preaching to the choir, we understand for the workers in the industry, this thing would have a horrible consequence but the rest of the country, theyre so busy. You got to get them some place where they truly live like the gas pump or their heating or airconditioning or any other things that we take for granted. Thats my message and i am repeating myself but if you dont engage with people outside the industry, then we are just talking. Exactly right. Bill, maybe one more question . Let me do one and maybe if i can sneak one more in. There is this perception of oil and gas but maybe you can talk a little bit more of your members, the size of your members and the job the industry supports. Yeah, i mean when among so many u. S. Industries whether it is oil or natural gas or some of the other bigger industries, all industries in this country, they are dominated by small mid size businesses and entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial firms. And so it is a misconception, we are up on the hill and communicating the number and the data in terms of some of the data i highlighted in my first remark about the dominance of Small Businesses in every sector of energy or if not, all industries that come under attack by a policy perspective on capitol hill or at the local level. So, as i said the innovation in any industry whether it is pharmaceutical or in the oil and Natural Gas Industry comes from entrepreneurial small firms. When there is any type of you know, barrier, big barrier that are placed up, it really hurts innovation and hurts access to capitol, you need capitol and investment in order to fuel innovation. For businesses that are not in this sector, when you talk about a rewind, you didnt have to go back to the70s. I mean 10 or 15 years ago when we had these price shocks at the pump, our members took dramatic actions in terms of you know cutting back some of their employeeshours, you know, doing a lot as a business becoming less competitive because their capitol was going into paying for those higher prices and it happened rather quickly as oppose going into their business compete and hiring new people and invest for growth. So, whether you are a Small Business of consumer of energy or someone thats very engaged and involved in the sector, it is really all about Small Business and entrepreneurs. And obviously the hardworking people who work for these enterprises as well. They are the generator and job creation, innovation and i just love it that particularly in these areas of the country that have been left behind that Energy Development and production has been a catalyst to Economic Development and new hope vibrant communities. Again, i think i cover a lot of ground there on Small Business. It is an industry thats all about Small Business and as consumers, boy, i will tell you, come off a competitive perspective, the cost of energy is really critical. Thats for you. Okay, really, really this time, one more. I want to let mike know, i think you have a future producer here in the audience. They want to know if you will be interested in doing an energyjob series. Tell me where to be. I will be there. I think a lot of the countries with really big shows of dirty job jobs type shows, i think you have to be broader than that. We are working on a project right now thats about as broad as can be. It is a celebration of surprising connections. In fact, it was a show called connection back in the70s with a guy named james spur. We build change consisting of links between two seemingly completely different points. You discover everything is connected and those connections are only made possible inevitably by presence. Years year every decision that was impacted in our country was made with booze in the room and it holds up. Well, you can also make the case a whole lot easier that energy is always, always in the room. Whether you are in the industry or not or in policy or it does not matter, every single american is relying on this. Some type of show should absolutely and positively come to pass. If anybody in the room would like to make it happen. I will contribute. I will draw my panel to a conclusion. I hope you will join me and thanking this group of folks who volunteered their time to spend with us this afternoon. We very much appreciate your insights around the future and america. Thank you very much. applause