A new economic analysis released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) outlining the dire economic consequences of a ban on federal leasing and hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) for American families and businesses has warned it could lead to a cumulative GDP loss of $7.1 trillion by 2030, cost up to 7.5 million American jobs in 2022 alone, slash household incomes by $5,400 annually, increase household energy costs by more than $600 per year and reduce farm incomes by 43 per cent due to higher energy costs.
If a ban is enacted, the U.S. would flip from being a net exporter of oil and petroleum products to importing more than 40 percent of supplies by 2030.
“If I told you about a technology that would help the environment, that would help American consumers, would reduce our trade deficit and increase American jobs, I think most politicians would jump on that, not try to ban it,” API President and CEO Mike Sommers said.
“American families should be shocked to hear proposals from candidates for high office that would ban this transformative technology, which would erase a generation of American progress and return us to the days of heavy reliance on foreign energy.
“There is perhaps no better example that points to the stark contrast we see today in the debate over America’s energy future.”
American families would pay more under a fracking ban, according to the new analysis.
On average, residential natural gas prices would increase 58 percent and electricity prices would average 20 percent higher per family annually.
American farmers and manufacturers would also suffer, with the cost of wheat farming increasing 64 percent, cost of corn farming increasing 54 percent and cost of soybean farming increasing 48 percent, due to the impact of higher energy costs.
“You can’t eliminate the very technology that has enabled the American energy revolution without damaging economic consequences,” said Lessly Goudarzi, founder and CEO of OnLocation, Inc.
“As our analysis shows, assuming a full ban on fracking would threaten a U.S. recession and force American consumers to rely more on foreign energy rather than energy produced here in the U.S.”
