Jack Gerard, President and CEO, American Petroleum Institute
Biography provided by participant
Gerard is the head of the American Petroleum Institute, the national trade association that represents all aspects of America's oil and natural gas industry. He brings a strong industry trade association background to API, as well as experience on Capitol Hill.
Gerard most recently served as president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council, and earlier held the same title at the National Mining Association. Gerard also spent close to a decade working in the Senate and House. He came to Washington in 1981, and worked for Rep. George Hansen. He also worked for Sen. James A. McClure, who chaired the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. When Sen. McClure retired in 1990, Gerard joined him in founding McClure, Gerard & Neuen-schwander, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based government relations consulting firm.
Gerard serves as chairman of the National Capital Area Council - Boy Scouts of America, is co-chair of The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management's Council on American Politics and is a member of the Conservation Fund's Corporate Council. Gerard is on the Board of Directors for the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Juris Doctor from George Washington University.
Current Legislation Not The Answer The government should uphold and live up to the principles that created the hugely successful oil and gas lease program for government lands. The cap-and-trade proposals Congress is considering are bad bills for many reasons, not the least of which is that they have the potential of costing millions of American jobs and driving up energy costs. Just as a new paint job would not make a clunker a better car, adding provisions to encourage domestic oil and natural gas development would not sufficiently improve them. Most senators understand that and are unlikely change their… Read more
Worse Than Waxman-Markey Kerry-Boxer would give a competitive advantage to non-U.S. refiners. The Kerry-Boxer bill is similar to the Waxman-Markey bill, but its impact would be even worse. Consumers, farmers, truckers, airline passengers, and all businesses relying on petroleum fuels would pay the lion's share of the costs. According to numerous studies about the Waxman-Markey bill, it appears that the more costly Kerry-Boxer bill could raise the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel to more than $5.00 a gallon, destroy more than 2 million U.S. jobs--even allowing for the creation of new green jobs--and would send jobs and refining capacity… Read more
Waxman-Markey Pitfalls Our chief concern is that Kerry-Boxer will advance the same complicated, grossly inequitable provisions as Waxman-Markey, threatening to eliminate millions of jobs, including some of the 9.2 million supported by America’s oil and natural gas industry, and risking sharply higher energy costs for farmers, truckers, the airlines, railroads, and anyone else who relies on petroleum fuels, including most American families and businesses. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Waxman-Markey could increase gasoline and diesel prices to above $5.00 a gallon and raise household energy costs by as much as $1,870. A study by EnSys Energy found… Read more
Biography provided by participant
