This afternoon API's President and CEO Jack Gerard delivered a speech focused on the reality of America's energy policy. Speaking at the Annual State of the Energy Industry conference sponsored by the United States Energy Association, Jack laid out the facts about the U.S. oil and natural industry and its contributions to the economy. He noted:

• Oil and natural gas supply 63 percent of the nation's energy and represent more than $1 trillion of the country's economic activity;

• The industry directly employs or supports 9.2 million American jobs and created 2 million jobs between 2004 and 2007;

• The industry invested more than $58 billion on carbon mitigation technologies between 2000 and 2008, more than either the federal government or the rest of private industry combined; and

• Oil and natural companies are investing in alternative energy and are creating traditional industry jobs as well as green jobs.

Most importantly, Jack explained that the industry could create thousands of new jobs if American energy policy were aligned with the needs and desires of the American people:

"They support developing our plentiful domestic energy resources and believe it can be done in a way protective of the environment. They value a future where we take advantage of all forms of energy and not play one against the other. And they value a future where we encourage domestic development to generate the jobs that will put them to work as well as supply the energy to help secure our economy, allowing it to thrive in the years and decades ahead."

The full text of the speech is available here.