Free Blue Collar Conservatives: Recommitting to an America That Works by Rick Santorum Page A

for their equipment in the shale industry. What has changed is the return of a sense of value and purpose.
    Most people thought that America had left places like Sullivan County behind. Dick Holcombe knew that wasn’t true. America hasn’t left Sullivan County behind, because Sullivan County is America.

    Mahoning County, Ohio, where the Harrisons live, is atop the western end of the Utica Shale, a major new source of oil. Energy companies have now invested millions in evaluating the area and are planning to move aggressively into the region. As it did in North Dakota, shale oil could create an economic boom not only in the energy sector but in all the businessesthat will grow or be created as workers and new residents flock to the area. The eastern Ohio economy, which has been a drag on the state for decades, could become the state’s economic engine all because of oil. 4
    Shale oil and gas could transform the rural and Rust Belt regions where many of the deposits lie. You would think that reviving these communities and encouraging domestic energy production would be a national priority. Yet the Obama administration, incredibly enough, is trying to sideline the fracking revolution, which is providing abundant new sources of clean-burning, affordable natural gas. Most environmentalists didn’t oppose natural gas ten years ago, when it was three times the price it is now. These liberals never want to see the words “affordable and plentiful” in the same sentence with “fossil fuels.”
    Obama’s most notorious attack on the fossil fuel industry has been his refusal to permit the construction of the Keystone pipeline, which would transport oil from Canada and the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and create thousands of jobs. 5 But there have been numerous other decisions that have destroyed American jobs or shipped them overseas. His moratorium on oil production in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP oil spill turned into a “permatorium,” according to the people I spoke with in Louisiana. 6 In spite of Obama’s best efforts, oil and gas production is up, but only on lands owned by private citizens. It is down on government-owned land both on and off shore. This de facto moratorium is a triplewhammy for the average American—fewer jobs, higher energy prices, and higher budget deficits because of lost revenue from drilling.
    When so many Americans are hurting, why would a president act so irresponsibly? Because the Obama administration is filled with environmental extremists, “true believers” who are committed to the eventual elimination of fossil fuels no matter the human cost. And that cost is enormous. It’s not just in the energy industry itself that jobs are at stake. Every business in the country is affected—from farming to high tech to manufacturing. Especially in manufacturing, where American workers are up against foreign competition, energy costs can determine whether jobs stay in America or go overseas. In many manufacturing industries, energy contributes over 15 percent of a product’s cost. 7

    If restoring the American Dream is our goal, restoring our manufacturing industry must be an essential piece of the plan. Most American businesses have to compete against other American businesses. The government might make life difficult for them with excessive taxation and regulation, but at least the competition is up against the same thing. But manufacturers face foreign competitors that operate under different rules and with different costs. Many foreign manufacturers enjoy government subsidies and weak environmental and labor laws.
    That is why I think we need to look at the manufacturing sector of the economy differently from other sectors. When it comes to foreign competition, our government has a legitimate role in laying down laws that even the playing field. For much of our history, American manufacturing was protected by tariffs. Today, many of our manufacturers lose business and jobs not because they