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Washington, D.C. — Late yesterday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) released a study claiming the oil and gas industry supplies 11 million jobs to the economy, and doubling down on its fearmongering that the Biden administration’s effort to confront the climate crisis is putting these purported contributions in jeopardy.

According to research from government watchdog Accountable.US, Biden’s climate policies have done no harm to the oil and gas industry. In fact, the industry has posted steady increases and is actively recruiting additional employees for API member companies.

“API’s member companies want us to think they’re both struggling to get by while also raking in sky-high profits for their rich executives. They can’t have it both ways,” said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. “Time and again, API has publicly claimed that President Biden’s pro-climate policies would hurt the oil and gas industry and lead to massive job losses. Their own jobs report disproves that theory outright. It’s time to stop the baseless fearmongering and start taking steps to tackle the climate crisis once and for all.” 

The oil and gas industry has gained jobs during the first six months of the Biden administration despite cries that the new president’s pro-climate policies will “eliminate” the industry. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a steady rise and stability in oil and gas industry jobs since January. The rising job numbers represent over $8.4 billion in wages for employees returning to work just in the first four months of 2021. API has even boasted about redeploying rigs and crew members across the industry, and 29 of its board member companies have over 1,200 job openings currently listed on their websites. 

While jobs are currently rising under the Biden administration, oil and gas jobs have been on a decline since 2014. Despite four years of pro-oil policies under the Trump administration, the oil and gas industry had an average of 47,200 fewer jobs under Trump than the last four years of the Obama administration.

Read the full research report here.

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