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H.R. 4526, THE 21ST CENTURY ENERGY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT JOBS INITIATIVE ACT 

OF 2014 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND POWER 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND 

COMMERCE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 

Serial No. 113–174 

( 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

energycommerce.house.gov 

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE 

FRED UPTON, Michigan 

Chairman 

RALPH M. HALL, Texas 

JOE BARTON, Texas 

Chairman Emeritus 

ED WHITFIELD, Kentucky 

JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois 

JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania 

GREG WALDEN, Oregon 

LEE TERRY, Nebraska 

MIKE ROGERS, Michigan 

TIM MURPHY, Pennsylvania 

MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas 

MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee 

Vice Chairman 

PHIL GINGREY, Georgia 

STEVE SCALISE, Louisiana 

ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio 

CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS, Washington 

GREGG HARPER, Mississippi 

LEONARD LANCE, New Jersey 

BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana 

BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky 

PETE OLSON, Texas 

DAVID B. MCKINLEY, West Virginia 

CORY GARDNER, Colorado 

MIKE POMPEO, Kansas 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

BILL JOHNSON, Ohio 

BILLY LONG, Missouri 

RENEE L. ELLMERS, North Carolina 

HENRY A. WAXMAN, California 

Ranking Member 

JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan 

FRANK PALLONE, JR., New Jersey 

BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois 

ANNA G. ESHOO, California 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

GENE GREEN, Texas 

DIANA DEGETTE, Colorado 

LOIS CAPPS, California 

MICHAEL F. DOYLE, Pennsylvania 

JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois 

JIM MATHESON, Utah 

G.K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina 

JOHN BARROW, Georgia 

DORIS O. MATSUI, California 

DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN, Virgin Islands 

KATHY CASTOR, Florida 

JOHN P. SARBANES, Maryland 

JERRY MCNERNEY, California 

BRUCE L. BRALEY, Iowa 

PETER WELCH, Vermont 

BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico 

PAUL TONKO, New York 

JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND POWER

ED WHITFIELD, Kentucky 

Chairman 

STEVE SCALISE, Louisiana 

Vice Chairman 

RALPH M. HALL, Texas 

JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois 

JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania 

LEE TERRY, Nebraska 

MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas 

ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio 

BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana 

PETE OLSON, Texas 

DAVID B. MCKINLEY, West Virginia 

CORY GARDNER, Colorado 

MIKE POMPEO, Kansas 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia 

JOE BARTON, Texas 

FRED UPTON, Michigan (ex officio) 

BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois 

Ranking Member 

JERRY MCNERNEY, California 

PAUL TONKO, New York 

JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

GENE GREEN, Texas 

LOIS CAPPS, California 

MICHAEL F. DOYLE, Pennsylvania 

JOHN BARROW, Georgia 

DORIS O. MATSUI, California 

DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN, Virgin Islands 

KATHY CASTOR, Florida 

JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan (ex officio) 

HENRY A. WAXMAN, California (ex officio) 

(II) 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hon. Ed Whitfield, a Representative in Congress from the Commonwealth 

of Kentucky, opening statement ......................................................................... 1 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 2 

Hon. Bobby L. Rush, a Representative in Congress from the State of Illinois, 

opening statement ................................................................................................ 19 

Hon. Gene Green, a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas, 

opening statement ................................................................................................ 20 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 20 

Hon. Henry A. Waxman, a Representative in Congress from the State of 

California, opening statement ............................................................................. 21 

WITNESSES

LaDoris Harris, Director, Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, Department of Energy ..................................................................................................... 22 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 25 

Harry C. Alford, President and CEO, National Black Chamber of Commerce .. 30 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 32 

Casey Bell, Senior Economist, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy ........................................................................................................................ 37 

Prepared statement of James P. Barrett, Chief Economist, American 

Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy 1 ................................................. 40 

Paula R. Jackson, President and CEO, American Association of Blacks in 

Energy ................................................................................................................... 44 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 46 

Jack N. Gerard, President and CEO, American Petroleum Institute ................. 51 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 53 

SUBMITTED MATERIAL

H.R. 4526, the 21st Century Energy Workforce Development Jobs Initiative 

Act of 2014, submitted by Mr. Whitfield ............................................................ 4 

Letter of September 17, 2014, from Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, 

National Urban League, to Mr. Whitfield, et al., submitted by Mr. Rush ...... 71 

1Mr. Barrett rather than Ms. Bell submitted a written statement on behalf 

of their organization. 

(1) 

H.R. 4526, THE 21ST CENTURY ENERGY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT JOBS INITIATIVE 

ACT OF 2014 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND POWER, 

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE, 

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:03 a.m., in room 

2322, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ed Whitfield (chairman 

of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Members present: Representatives Whitfield, Shimkus, Pitts, 

Terry, Latta, Olson, McKinley, Griffith, Rush, Tonko, Yarmuth, 

Engel, Green, Barrow, and Waxman (ex officio). 

Staff present: Nick Abraham, Legislative Clerk; Leighton Brown, 

Press Assistant; Allison Busbee, Policy Coordinator, Energy and 

Power; Tom Hassenboehler, Chief Counsel, Energy and Power; 

Jason Knox, Counsel, Energy and Power; Matt Connolly, Democratic Legislative Assistant; Hannah Green, Democratic Policy Analyst; and Alexandra Teitz, Democratic Chief Counsel, Energy and 

Environment. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. I would like to call the hearing to order this 

morning, and I want to thank our panel of witnesses. We look forward to your testimony, and I will be introducing each one of you 

right before you give your statement, but we do thank you for attending this hearing this morning. This morning’s hearing—and I 

am going to recognize myself for 5 minutes for an opening statement. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ED WHITFIELD, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY 

This morning’s hearing focuses on H.R. 4526, the 21st Century 

Energy Workforce Development Jobs Initiative Act of 2014. You all 

got a long title on this bill. I am particularly pleased to work with 

my friend Bobby Rush here, the ranking member of this subcommittee. He authored this legislation, and all of us think that it 

is vitally important to explore the opportunities that this legislation will provide. 

The dramatic increases in domestic oil and natural gas production could not have come at a better time for the Nation’s struggling economy. As a result of America’s oil and gas boom, energy 

is one of the very few sectors of the economy where we have seen 

2 

substantial job growth in recent years, and these jobs pay very 

well. In fact, it has been reported that graduates of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology are commanding higher salaries than graduates from some of the business programs at Harvard. 

The Energy Information Administration and others predict continued increases in domestic oil and gas output in the years ahead, 

and that translates into growing demand for qualified employees to 

produce that energy. Many of the Nation’s fastest-growing State 

economies are energy-producing States, and that is not likely to 

change any time soon. People with the right training will be needed 

in even greater numbers, from the geologists and engineers who 

use state-of-the-art technology to find the oil and natural gas, to 

those who drill and operate the wells, to those who design and 

build and maintain the specialized equipment that makes it all 

possible. 

And beyond the oil and gas boom, there are still jobs related to 

coal, nuclear, and many other sectors relating to energy. There are 

over 800,000 jobs in the U.S. supported, for example, by the coal 

mining industry alone. 

There is no doubt that the energy industry offers promising careers for young people, and we need to make certain that these opportunities exist for all Americans, including African Americans, 

Hispanic Americans, and women, and that is what H.R. 4526 does. 

And just from my personal view, we certainly want to focus on 

those groups, but I think it is also important that we have programs available for anyone who needs help economically. Some of 

those are African American, but they may be Hispanic; they may 

be Caucasian, whatever they may be. We want opportunities for 

them, and that is what this bill is all about. And I really look forward to the testimony of those of you on the panel because you 

have the expertise to help us get a better understanding of this. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Whitfield follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. ED WHITFIELD

This morning’s hearing focuses on H.R. 4526, the 21st Century Energy Workforce 

Development Jobs Initiative Act of 2014. I am particularly pleased to work with my 

friend Bobby Rush, who introduced this important bill to increase minority participation in the rapidly expanding energy jobs market. 

The dramatic increase in domestic oil and natural gas production could not have 

come at a better time for this Nation’s struggling economy. As a result of America’s 

oil and gas boom, energy is one of the very few sectors of the economy where we 

have seen substantial job growth in recent years. And these jobs pay very well— 

in fact, it has been reported that graduates of the South Dakota School of Mines 

and Technology are commanding higher salaries than graduates of Harvard. 

And these are careers for the long haul. The Energy Information Administration 

and others predict continued increases in domestic oil and gas output in the years 

ahead, and that translates into growing demand for qualified employees to produce 

that energy. Many of the Nation’s fastest-growing State economies are energy-producing States, and that is not likely to change any time soon. 

People with the right training will be needed in ever greater numbers—from the 

geologists and engineers who use state-of-the art-technology to find the oil and natural gas, to those who drill and operate the wells, to those who design and build 

and maintain the specialized equipment that makes it all possible, and many others. 

And beyond the oil and gas boom, there are all the jobs related to coal, nuclear, and 

renewables. There are over 800,000 jobs in the U.S. supported by the coal mining 

industry. Many of these jobs provide excellent salaries and opportunities for upward-mobility for minorities living in some of the most impoverished corners of our 

3 

country, specifically for Native Americans. For example, the Chairman of the Crow 

Nation, the tribal Nation in Montana, has testified before congress that the importance of coal mining ‘‘to the economy of the Crow Reservation cannot be overstated.’’ 

We must remember this fact and encourage and develop energy jobs of all types. 

There is no doubt that the energy industry offers many promising careers for 

young people, and we need to make certain that these opportunities exist for all 

Americans, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and women. And that 

is what H.R. 4526 does. It improves upon the Federal Government’s existing education and job training programs by ensuring that more women and minorities can 

acquire the skills needed to get energy industry jobs. 

Of course, I might add that these job opportunities only exist to the extent that 

we are allowed to produce energy in this country. For that reason, we need to remain vigilant against restrictive policies such as those that limit fossil fuel production from Federal lands. And we absolutely must allow coal to remain a significant 

part of the energy mix to preserve and expand coal-related jobs. The same is true 

of nuclear power, which faces numerous Federal roadblocks. In addition, we should 

support legislation that expands global markets for American energy, such as H.R. 

6, the ‘‘Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act.’’ Simply put, more American 

energy production equals more American jobs. Tomorrow on the House floor, we will 

be debating an energy bill that reduces red tape, helps to extend our energy infrastructure for greater access to supplies, promotes production, and most of all will 

help to expand these jobs that we refer to in H.R. 4526. 

While we pursue policies that expand the energy jobs pool, we also need to take 

steps to help minorities and women fill more of these positions. H.R. 4526 is a vital 

step forward in achieving this goal. I look forward to working with Mr. Rush to assure its passage. 

[H.R. 4526 follows:] 

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Mr. WHITFIELD. And with that, I would like at this time to introduce the author of the bill, Mr. Rush of Chicago, for his 5-minute 

opening statement. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BOBBY L. RUSH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 

Mr. RUSH. I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to also 

commend you for not only cosponsoring H.R. 4526, but also for 

holding this important hearing today on an issue that is a high priority for me and for my constituents. 

Mr. Chairman, you and your staff have been very, very gracious 

in working with my staff to make this hearing a reality, and I 

wanted to publicly express my sincere appreciation for your work 

and for your involvement, for your commitment. Mr. Chairman, I 

want to thank all the members who are present for taking the time 

out. I know there are other hearings going on, and their time is 

very precious to them, and their schedules are tight. I want to 

thank them, therefore, for taking the time out to be at this hearing. 

I want to thank all the participants, expert witnesses. 

As you know, Mr. Chairman, since taking over as ranking member of this subcommittee, one of my top priorities has been to increase opportunities for minorities within all sectors of the energy 

industry. We have come a long way in this regard as evidenced by 

the distinct panel of stakeholders who have worked with my office 

from the beginning on drafting this bill. While there is still much 

work to do to turn potential into reality, I am very pleased to see 

that we have some of the top minds in the country testifying before 

us today representing the Federal Government, representing business, the energy sector, and nonprofits. 

Mr. Chairman, the purpose of this bipartisan bill is to provide a 

pathway to employment for minorities and other historically underrepresented communities in the energy sector. This bill outlines a 

comprehensive strategy for initiating collaboration between the Departments of Energy, Education, and Labor, as well industry, 

schools, communities and colleges, universities, labor unions, workforce development organizations, and other stakeholders in order to 

engage, inform, train, and recruit minorities for energy jobs of the 

present and for the future. 

The fact of the matter is, and this is in the best interests of our 

constituents of energy and our national economy to engage women 

and the minority community because as two recent API reports 

that Mr. Gerard references in his testimony tell us over half of the 

workforce was in the oil and gas industry, specifically will retire or 

leave within the next 5 or 10 years, and they will need these very 

same communities, this very same community workforce, to help 

replace those workers. 

Mr. Chairman, I applaud Secretary Moniz for his outstanding 

leadership in developing the Minorities in Energy Initiative following both public and private conversations we have had discussion on this important topic. Under the leadership or Director Harris, who we will hear from today, I have every confidence that if 

all of us continue to work together, we will see positive, tangible 

results in moving this agenda forward. 

20 

Mr. Chairman, this is a very important matter. Again, I want to 

thank you for your participation. I think the American people owe 

you a sense of gratification and a sense of thanks because you are, 

indeed, in a bipartisan manner, moving a critical issue forward 

with this hearing. 

Mr. Chairman, if I have any additional time, I want to yield to 

the gentleman from Texas for whatever time I have remaining. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. GENE GREEN, A 

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS 

Mr. GREEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be brief and put 

my full statement in the record. I want to thank both the Chair 

and Ranking Member Rush for crafting this legislation. I am proud 

to be an original cosponsor. The industries I represent have complained for years about workforce shortages. In East Houston, Harris County, Texas, if we were able to recruit every journeyman electrician in the country, we would still have a shortage. Our economy 

is part of the country rapidly expanding because of the development of the Eagle Ford Shale in the Permian Basin, and our workforce in Texas, diversity is a reality. It is also a necessity. Recently, 

ExxonMobil and the Texas Gulf Coast Community College Consortium are addressing the workforce needs, and they provided funding for our community college, and San Jacinto College in our district is one of those colleges. 

In fact, the diversity in San Jacinto College actually is—46 percent of their students that attend San Jacinto College are Hispanic, 

in those skills, computer training, electricity, machining, welding, 

pipe fitting, and other skills. Thank you, and I look forward to 

hopefully passing this bill. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Green follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. GENE GREEN

Good morning. I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for holding 

this hearing today. I want to thank our witnesses for coming up and testifying 

today. 

Today, we are here to discuss an issue that is very important to the district I represent. I am pleased that Representative Rush has crafted this legislation, and I am 

proud to be an original co-sponsor. 

For years, many of the industries I represent have complained of workforce shortages. In East Houston/Harris County, if we were able to recruit every union electrician in the country, we would still have a shortage. 

The economy in our part of the country is rapidly expanding thanks to the development of the Eagleford shale and the Permian Basin. We must ensure that this 

economic prosperity is shared across all of our community. 

In Texas, workforce diversity is not only a reality, it’s a necessity. But as I’ve stated before, Texas is once again leading the charge and producing results—this time 

in workforce development. 

Thanks to efforts by ExxonMobil and the Texas Gulf Coast Community College 

Consortium, we are addressing the workforce needs of our industries. The Community College PetroChemical Initiative is a public-private partnership that is unique 

in the industry. The Consortium includes nine community colleges, including San 

Jacinto College in my district. The program expects to attract as many as 50,000 

students and educators across the State over the next 5 years. 

The program will provide certification and degree programs in a variety of technical fields, including computer and electrical technology; machining, welding, and 

pipefitting; and other skills and competencies needed by the chemical manufacturing and refining industries. 

The composition of the student body at San Jacinto College overwhelming favors 

workforce diversity. Over 70 percent of the students are part-time, which means 

21 

they are most likely working professionals that are trying to obtain education for 

a better job. Over 46 percent of the students that attend the San Jacinto are of Hispanic or Latino origins. Over 56 percent of the students are women. 

Through programs like CCPI, the industry job opportunities can become realities. 

I look forward to working with my colleagues on this bill to ensure that success 

like we have in East Harris County is duplicated nationwide. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. Thank you very much, and our chairman of the 

full committee, Mr. Upton, had a conflict and is not here. Is there 

anyone else on our side of the aisle that would like to be recognized 

for a comment? If not, at this time, I would like to recognize the 

gentleman from California, Mr. Waxman, for a 5-minute opening 

statement. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 

Mr. WAXMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am very pleased for 

holding this hearing on this bill authored by the ranking member 

of this subcommittee, the 21st Century Energy Workforce Development Jobs Initiative. Mr. Rush’s bill addresses a major challenge 

for our Nation to ensure that all Americans and especially minorities have the skills they need to carry out the jobs available today 

and in the future. Specifically, this bill aims to prepare minority 

workers for the wide-ranging job opportunities in the energy sector. 

The U.S. energy industry is in a period of transformation and 

growth. Steady advances in critical energy technologies and the resulting cost reductions are generating new businesses and job opportunities across the country. These jobs are being filled by workers with a range of skills and educational levels from solar panel 

installers and wind turbine technicians, to engineers and line 

workers in electric vehicle factories. Mr. Rush’s legislation aims to 

ensure that these opportunities emerging throughout the energy industry will also be available to minority workers and minorityowned businesses. 

Mr. Rush has been a longstanding and tenacious champion for 

helping minority communities gain access to the full range of career opportunities in the energy field, particularly clean energy 

jobs. In 2009, in the Waxman-Markey Energy Bill, Mr. Rush successfully pushed to include funding for the proposed ‘‘low-income 

community energy efficiency program.’’ This program would have 

provided financing for minority-owned businesses and community 

organizations to deliver energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements to low-income communities. 

I strongly supported this effort. It would have created good, clean 

energy jobs for local residents while also helping low-income families save money on the energy bills through energy efficiency upgrades. 

I am also proud to support Mr. Rush’s most recent proposal. This 

bill would launch a comprehensive new program to create a pathway starting at the elementary school level for minorities to work 

in energy-related jobs. It would facilitate a coordinated effort 

among the energy industry, educational institutions, and Government, labor unions, to help bridge the gap that now exists between 

22 

the many minority workers and the job opportunities in the energy 

industry. 

This is an area of tremendous opportunity if we can prepare 

workers with the skills they need. We are in the midst of an energy 

revolution, and some of the most exciting developments are occurring in clean energy. Since 2010, the solar industry has grown at 

a breakneck pace and added 50,000 new jobs across America. In 

2013, there were over 142,000 workers throughout the solar industry supply chain in the United States. Nearly half of these were in 

solar installation jobs which earn over $23 per hour on average. 

These are good living wage jobs that cannot be outsourced. 

The wind industry has also grown rapidly in the United States 

over recent years. Texas ranks first in the country for wind power, 

installation, and wind industry jobs, while California ranks second. 

The wind industry has injected more than 11 billion into California’s economy, and 23 billion into the Texas economy. These investments have created jobs and a stronger, more diverse tax base. 

And as States move forward to implement the EPA’s Clean 

Power Plan in coming years, job opportunities in the clean energy 

sector will expand even more rapidly, but creating jobs isn’t 

enough. We also have to make sure that all Americans have the 

training and skills they need to compete for these jobs. Congressman Rush has put forward a well-developed bipartisan proposal to 

ensure that minorities, too, will benefit from these new jobs in energy. Today’s hearing will provide valuable information on how this 

program can help translate opportunities into real jobs for minority 

workers. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back my time. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. Thank you, and that concludes our opening 

statements, so at this time, I will be calling on the members of the 

panel to give their opening statements. 

And the first witness that we have this morning is Ms. LaDoris 

Harris, who is the Director of the Office of Economic Impact and 

Diversity at the Department of Energy, and, Ms. Harris, you will 

be recognized for 5 minutes for your opening statement, and 

thanks for being with us. 

STATEMENTS OF LADORIS HARRIS, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF 

ECONOMIC IMPACT AND DIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY; HARRY C. ALFORD, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATIONAL 

BLACK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE; CASEY BELL, SENIOR 

ECONOMIST, AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY–EFFICIENT ECONOMY; PAULA R. JACKSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, 

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY; AND JACK 

N. GERARD, PRESIDENT AND CEO, AMERICAN PETROLEUM 

INSTITUTE 

STATEMENT OF LADORIS HARRIS 

Ms. HARRIS. Thank you, Chairman Whitfield, Ranking Member 

Rush, and the distinguished members of the committee. I am 

pleased to be before you today to discuss the status of the Department of Energy’s Minorities in Energy Initiative and the Workforce 

Development Initiatives. 

23 

I was nominated by the President as the Director of the Office 

of Economic Impact and Diversity at the United States Department 

of Energy and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 29 of 2012. 

As an electrical engineer by training, I bring 30 years of global private sector management and leadership experience in the energy 

sector. Before coming to the Department of Energy, I was cofounder, president and CEO of Jabo Industries, a minority, womanowned management consulting firm concentrating in the energy, 

information technology, and healthcare industries. I also served as 

an executive as General Electric and held a number of leadership 

positions at GE Energy and industrial systems businesses. 

Prior to GE, I was an officer and vice president of operations for 

production for ABB Services, Inc. I spent 12 years as a field service 

engineer and services manager for Westinghouse Electric Company. 

The Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the Department 

was established in 1979, and with a director appointed by the 

President and confirmed by the Senate to advise the Secretary on 

the impact of energy policies, regulations, and other actions of the 

Department on Minorities and Minority Business Enterprise to ensure minorities can participate fully in the Department’s energy 

programs. 

The policy includes insurance that DOE can provide minorities 

with information, technical assistance, support, loans, business 

analysis, and targeted outreach. In 2013, as I mentioned earlier, 

Secretary Moniz launched the Department of Energy’s Minorities 

in Energy Initiative, and this initiative was to engage the minority 

communities in the energy sector. Because of my office’s mandate 

and successful history working with minority communities, Secretary Moniz asked me to task this initiative. The initiative is a 

public-private collaboration aimed at increasing minority participation in the energy sector through engagement in science, technology, engineering and math, education, and workforce development, energy economic development, as well as climate change. 

Through outreach, industry partnerships, and industry data analysis, we seek to harness the richness of America’s diversity to actually develop and sustain talent. One of the areas for timing for this 

initiative could not be better with the fact that energy is the third 

largest industry in the U.S. 

MIE, as it is referred to, would empower and prepare businesses, 

communities, schools, and individuals to benefit from the technical, 

financial assistance, and workforce, and energy literacy as well. 

Through the initiative we have sustained a platform which 

should include a number of ambassadors across the industry as 

well as those in the education and economic industries as well. 

Some of the leading members of this, or ambassadors include the 

Ranking Member Bobby Rush, Senators Mary Landrieu and Lisa 

Murkowski, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, Congressman 

Joe Garcia. Also on the panel with us today, Jack Gerard is also 

one of our ambassadors. We have a few ambassadors as well that 

has been key, past former EPA administrator, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman is also one of our ambassadors. 

If we look at the areas that we are focusing in for STEM education and workforce development, we are working very closely 

24 

with the Obama administration even in My Brother’s Keeper Initiative that we want to focus on as well. One of the areas that we 

really are looking forward to with MIE is not only in working with 

some of the minorities serving institutions which support the educational outreach that we have. 

One of the second areas that we focus on, clearly the economic 

impact development, because of the $6 trillion industry that we 

have in energy, we are making sure we engage minority businesses 

as well. In this area we have a MOU, for example, with the Department of Commerce, with minority business development agency 

that we will establish in 2013, and collectively we are working very 

closely with the businesses to support this. 

And finally in the climate change area, we have engaged with 

the—aligned our focus with President Obama’s Clean Action Plan, 

and we support all the necessary investments for clean energy 

technology. 

So in conclusion, we will be looking forward to working with the 

committee and all that you have done in support of the Department’s Minorities in Energy Initiative, focusing on your bill for energy workforce development. Thank you very much. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Harris follows:] 

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Mr. WHITFIELD. Thank you, Ms. Harris. 

And at this time, our next witness is Mr. Harry Alford, who is 

the President and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Alford, thank you for being with us today. We look forward to your testimony. You are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF HARRY C. ALFORD 

Mr. ALFORD. Chairman Whitfield, Minority Leader Rush, and 

distinguished members of the committee, thank you for inviting the 

National Black Chamber of Commerce to participate in this most 

important hearing. The NBCC proudly represents the fastest growing segment of the American economy, black-owned businesses. 

When we were incorporated in May of 1993, the U.S. Census Bureau stated that there were 300,000 black-owned businesses doing 

$30 billion in sales annually. Today the U.S. Census Bureau states 

that there are 1.9 million black-owned businesses doing over $137 

billion annually. This fantastic growth has swelled our membership 

and has made us the largest black business association in the 

world. We have over 170 local chapters of which 70 percent are located throughout the United States. Our database of black-owned 

firms exceeds 60,000 within the United States. 

Likewise, there has been an unprecedented growth in this country’s energy industries in the last decade. The development and 

production of natural gas and oil has increased dramatically with 

the widespread use of hydraulic fracturing. The U.S. has moved 

from being a country that imports natural gas to one that has the 

capacity to export it. In fact, natural gas production in the U.S. is 

expected to grow increasing 56 percent between 2012 and 2040. 

This type of growth directly translates into jobs, often well-paid 

jobs with Fortune 500 companies. In fact, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, jobs in the oil and gas industries 

have outpaced all others in the private sector. Without a doubt, minorities should be competing for and landing these jobs. 

According to a March 2014 IHS study, the U.S. oil and gas industry and the petrochemical industry together employed a total of 1.2 

million people in 2010. Of those jobs, African American workers 

held 98,000 of them in 2010, accounting for 8.2 percent of the total 

employment. According to the same IHS study, there will be a total 

of 1.3 million direct job opportunities over the period of 2010 to 

2030 in the oil and gas and petrochemical industries. Of those job 

opportunities, IHS projects that African American and Hispanic 

workers will account for nearly 408,000 jobs, or 32 percent in 2030. 

IHS also estimates that African American and Hispanic workers 

are projected to make up nearly 20 percent of the management, 

business, and financial opportunities through 2030. 

One of the most significant ways that we as a minority community can take advantage of the employment boom and energy sectors is to support local development of energy-related projects and 

development within our local communities. A good example of such 

a partnership is the Mississippi Power Company’s construction of 

a power plant in Kemper County, which began in 2010. The power 

plant will have carbon capture and sequestration technology, providing for lower emissions generation. The facility is projected to 

create more than 12,000 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent 

31 

jobs, generating more than $75 million in State and local tax revenue. The Kemper facility has contracted with 22 minority-owned 

businesses for $96.7 million in business opportunities. 

In summation, the purpose of this bill is to provide a pathway 

to employment for minorities and other historically underrepresented communities in the energy sector. This bill outlines a comprehensive strategy for initiating collaboration between the Department of Energy, Education, and Labor, as well as industries, 

schools, community colleges, universities, labor unions, workforce 

development organizations, and other stakeholders, in order to engage, inform, train and recruit minorities for the energy jobs of the 

present and future. 

The Secretary of Energy shall: Make the objective of educating 

and training minorities and other workers for the 21st Century 

jobs a national priority; collaborate with the Secretary of Education 

or his designee and the Secretary of Labor or his designee to develop guidelines for educational institutions at all levels, including 

K through 12, community colleges, undergraduates, graduate, postgraduate universities, that would help the energy workforce in the 

21st century; work with organized labor and community-based 

workforce organizations to help identify candidates, including from 

historically underserved communities such as minorities, women 

and veterans, and to enroll into training and apprenticeship programs, leading to full union membership. I commend Representatives Rush, Whitfield, and Johnson on their introduction of this important legislation. The bill provides for an overall strategy to connect representatives from industry, education, and Government 

and other stakeholders in an effort to engage, inform, train, and recruit minorities for the energy jobs of the present and the future. 

With these types of efforts, we can educate, train, and employ African Americans and other minorities so that they too can enjoy the 

economic benefits of the American energy boom. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Alford follows:] 

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Mr. WHITFIELD. Thank you, Mr. Alford. 

And our next witness is Ms. Casey Bell, who is a senior economist with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. 

Thank you for being with us, and you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF CASEY BELL 

Ms. BELL. Chairman Whitfield, Ranking Member Rush, members 

of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you 

today about the need for workforce development and training in energy and related industries. My name is Casey Bell. I am a senior 

economist with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, commonly known as ACEEE. I am testifying on behalf of Jim 

Barrett, our chief economist. ACEEE is a nonprofit research institute dedicated to advancing energy efficiency. For over 30 years, we 

have been a trusted source of information on end use efficiency 

technologies and policies. I am here to talk to you about the training and workforce development needs for the energy efficiency industry. 

First, just to make sure we are all talking about the same thing, 

I will spend a moment defining energy efficiency. Though often 

conflated with energy conservation, efficiency is distinct. It is not 

about turning down the thermostat and putting on a sweater or 

otherwise doing without. Instead, efficiency is about doing more 

with less, going further on a gallon of gasoline, keeping your home 

warm while using less fuel, using precision timing to produce high 

quality products while cutting costs. 

Unlike other energy sources, you can’t touch, smell, or see energy 

efficiency. You can’t burn it or put it on the electric grid. That 

makes efficiency a bit different than other energy sources. However, the important thing to keep in mind about energy is that is 

no one really consumes energy for its own sake. We don’t necessarily buy gasoline because we like gasoline. We buy it because 

we need to go places, and our cars use gasoline to take us there. 

We don’t eat electricity, but we need it to store and prepare food. 

We don’t consume energy per se, rather we consume energy services, mobility and access, heating and cooling, the ability to use our 

computers for work, and television to relax. 

So while efficiency doesn’t deliver energy, it delivers energy services, and it is just as important to the economy as physical energy 

sources are, perhaps more so. 

In 1970, the U.S. GDP, the value of all the goods and services 

we produce, was a little over $5 trillion in today’s terms. By 2012, 

that had more than tripled to over 16 trillion, adjusting for inflation. In 1970, our economy consumed about 68 quadrillion BTUs 

worth of physical energy. By 2012, that grew to just under 100, an 

increase not of 300 percentage like GDP, but of only 41 percent. If 

we consumed energy in 2012 the same way we consumed it in 

1970, we would have consumed over 220 quadrillion BTUs. What 

this means is that over that time frame, the majority of the increase in demand for energy was not met by increasing the supply 

of energy, but rather by energy efficiency, as shown in the figure 

1 in Jim’s testimony. 

Without energy efficiency, energy consumption would be more 

than twice as high as it is today. By that measure efficiency has 

38 

been the single most important fuel of the past 40 years. Not only 

is energy efficiency a critical resource for economic growth and productivity, it is an important source of employment. Unfortunately, 

just as efficiency itself can’t be seen, the energy efficiency industry 

is also difficult to identify. 

Unlike industries such as oil and gas extraction, electricity generation, or automobile manufacturing, there is no clearly delineated 

efficiency sector. Though difficult to identify and measure, energy 

efficiency production and energy efficiency jobs are spread throughout the economy. In the manufacturing sector, energy efficiency 

plays an important role in developing new, lower cost, and more efficient appliances, cars that get better gas mileage, and improving 

industrial processes that allow us to make more of these and other 

priorities with less energy than ever. Investing resources in making 

homes and offices more energy efficient creates jobs in construction 

and the industries that make the equipment and materials needed 

for the job. As a simple measure, every $1 million spent on energy as a 

whole supports about four full-time jobs directly and through the 

supply chain. Investing that same amount of money in the construction sector to make homes and offices more efficient would 

support about 12 jobs, not even taking into account the beneficial 

impacts of increased productivity, reduced pollution, and increased 

competitiveness. An analysis ACEEE performed of the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2013, found that the investment in efficiency that bill would drive would support a net increase of over 100,000 jobs per year, in addition to the jobs the energy efficiency investments also create. 

We also have an analysis of EPA’s Clean Power Plan that indi- cates by 2030, the rule could induce over $625 billion of investment 

in various energy efficiency industries and behaviors and create an 

average of over 400,000 jobs per year, both directly and throughout 

the economy. 

We expect increasing growth to necessitate a wide range of training and educational needs. Community colleges and union-based 

training programs in particular can play a central role in providing 

hands-on vocational and practical training in a number of skilled 

and semiskilled occupations directly related to the energy efficiency. I am not an expert on designing training programs, although my colleague has had the opportunity to tour skilled training programs in plumbing, pipe fitting, heating, air-conditioning, 

and related systems with an eye on increased energy efficiency. To 

the extent that people imagine these occupations to be simple or 

unskilled, we can say that they are wrong. In many cases to do this 

work right requires highly specialized skills and well-designed, targeted training programs, neither of which happen by accident. 

I will leave it to those with more knowledge and expertise to discuss how to deliver that training to traditionally underserved communities, but I will state what seems obvious, that participation in 

these and other growing energy industries requires participation in 

appropriate training and education programs. To the extent that 

the existing workforce is not representative of our working age population as a whole, that disparity is likely to persist absent focused 

efforts such as those proposed in the 21st Century Energy WorkVerDate Mar 15 2010 10:56 Apr 01, 2015 Jkt 037690 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\113-174 HR 4526 - HAVE EDITS\113-174 HR 4526 - PENDING WAYNE
39 

force Development Jobs Initiative Act of 2014 we are discussing 

today. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to speak, and I am more 

than happy to answer any questions you may have. 

[The prepared statement of James P. Barrett follows:] 

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Mr. WHITFIELD. Thank you very much. Our next witness is Paula 

Jackson, who is the president of the American Association of 

Blacks in Energy, and thanks for being with us, and you are recognized for 5 minutes, Ms. Jackson. 

STATEMENT OF PAULA R. JACKSON 

Ms. JACKSON. Good morning, Chairman Whitfield, Ranking 

Member Rush, and all the members of the committee. Thank you 

for giving me the opportunity to testify before you today. My name 

is Paula Jackson. I am the president and CEO of the American Association of Blacks in Energy. We are a national association of energy professionals founded and dedicated to ensure the input of African Americans and other minorities into the discussions and developments of energy policy, regulations, R&D technologies, and 

environmental. Our membership of 1,500 energy professionals who 

work in every sector of the industry are committed to building a 

cadre of young African American leaders for this industry. 

The association fully supports H.R. 4526, and for more than 35 

years, we have been working diligently to educate and inform our 

communities about the opportunities in the energy industry. While 

we have had some success, we recognize that there is a lot more 

to be done. This bill brings together all the key stakeholders to develop a curriculum and framework which will significantly move 

the needle at a time where our Nation’s economy is growing, and 

with that growth, more opportunities become available. 

Changes in the industry from grid modernization, higher demand 

for electricity, increased domestic oil and natural gas resources, an 

aging workforce, and adoption of new technology, along with the 

changing demographic in this country, has made the industry look 

very closely at its workforce pipeline. In response, the electric and 

natural gas industry formed the Center For Energy Workforce Development, which is an organization that works with utilities to develop solutions for the coming workforce shortage in the utility industry. And the oil and natural gas industry has made workforce 

pipeline, and more specifically, inclusion of women and minorities 

in the workforce a priority as well. 

As you can imagine, for an organization like mine, this is great 

news. We aren’t spending time trying to convince the industry to 

be more inclusive. Instead we are spending time looking for opportunities to collaborate and address this problem. Increasing the 

participation of minorities has been at the core of our work for 37 

years, and as an organization, I want to share with you some of 

the things that we have been doing to move things forward. Our 

first is our scholarship program. 

Through the AABE scholarship program that was established 

more than 30 years ago, we encourage young people to study in the 

STEM disciplines and pursue a career in energy. As a result of that 

work, more than a million dollars in scholarships has been granted 

to students around this country. And as the industries needs have 

changed, our program has changed. One change is that we have expanded this program to include students who are going to major in 

business. The other change is that some students will go to 2-year 

institutions as opposed to 4-year institutions, and so we are really 

45 

trying to find ways to take advantage of these opportunities and 

bring students where they are into this industry. 

Our chapters offer specific programs and innovative collaborations to get students to think about STEM and this industry. For 

example, our New York chapter has partnered with NYU Poly, Con 

Ed, National Grid, and they offer a Summer Energy Academy 

every year for middle school students. That 6-week program introduces students to careers in the industry by having them do research and develop their own energy projects. And just this past 

weekend I had the opportunity to visit with a group of high school 

students who were working in Atlanta on developing an energy app 

for our association. It provided a wonderful opportunity to talk 

with students who were thinking about video game design as energy for an opportunity for those types of skills. 

Every October we have Black Energy Awareness Month where 

all of our chapters offer interactive learning activities for local students to broaden their knowledge about the energy industry. And 

then we do community outreach. This year in partnership with 

Hispanics in Energy, the DOE’s MIE initiative, and API, we have 

kicked off an Energize series: A Community Conversation About 

Energy, Opportunity, and Workforce Readiness in Diverse Communities. And this eight-city tour has brought together industry leaders, community stakeholders, policymakers, and others to discuss 

opportunities in industry and the challenges which make accessing 

these opportunities difficult. 

To date, we have hosted conversations Bakersfield, Canton, Chicago, Denver, Las Cruces, and Philadelphia. Tomorrow we will be 

in Charlotte, and next month in Detroit. 

And finally, as an association we are always looking for opportunities to collaborate with other organizations. Most recently we 

signed an MOU to belong to an organization called Changes, which 

is the coalition of Hispanic, African, and Native Americans for the 

next generation of engineers and scientists. And through that collaboration, we are not only able to better understand the challenges that minority students face in pursuing STEM disciplines, 

but we are able to educate those people, those academics and others, about the opportunities that the industry offers. 

And so what I would like to say is that outreach, scholarship, 

and collaboration are key tenets to AABE’s work in increasing the 

participation in this industry. We know the industry is a driver to 

our economy, and working in this industry can change lives and 

move families into the middle class. And this legislation is critically 

important to ensure that all Americans will have the opportunity 

to participate. 

And finally, I would just like to say on a personal note thank you 

for your leadership and thoughtfulness around this. I started in 

this industry 25 years ago, and as a young African American 

woman who was a marketing major and fell into this industry, I 

applaud you for thinking about how we can direct students more 

so that they don’t fall in like I did, but that it is a clear choice. 

I look forward to your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Jackson follows:] 

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Mr. WHITFIELD. Thank you very much, Ms. Jackson. 

And our next witness is Mr. Jack Gerard, who is the CEO of the 

American Petroleum Institute. Thanks for being with us today, and 

you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF JACK N. GERARD 

Mr. GERARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Ranking Member 

Rush, and other members of the subcommittee. It is a real pleasure 

to be with you this morning. As mentioned, I am Jack Gerard, the 

president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute. We represent all facets of the oil and natural gas industry in the country 

which supports about 9.8 million U.S. jobs and constitutes about 8 

percent of our domestic economy. I am pleased today to be here 

with many of our partners, with Paula and Harry and Dot, and I 

might say our friends, as we look at these issues more closely and 

figure out a better way to serve the American people generally, 

particularly in light of the American energy renaissance that we 

are experiencing today. 

API’s 600 members make up all aspects of the oil and gas industry from the large integrated companies as well as exploration and 

production, refining, marketing, pipeline, marine businesses, all 

the way down to our service and supply firms. Our extensive network of over 30,000 vendors, suppliers, and contractors create and 

support jobs in every community in the country, by and large, and 

in most congressional districts. 

The unprecedented opportunity created by America’s 21st century energy renaissance, which is a direct result of technological 

advancements in the oil and gas industry, is a unique opportunity 

for all Americans. If we seize this moment in our history and work 

together on energy policies that promote the safe and responsible 

development of our Nation’s enormous energy resources, our industry will not only create and support millions of well-paying jobs far 

into the future, but also make America a global energy superpower 

for many generations yet to come. 

To better understand the scope and reach of this economic opportunity our industry could provide the Nation, API commissioned 

IHS Global to examine potential job opportunities through 2030. 

The study has been cited by other members of the panel here this 

morning. The report, which is entitled, Minority and Female Employment in the Oil & Gas and Petrochemical Industries estimates 

that over 950,000 jobs, job opportunities, could be created by 2020 

and that nearly 1.3 million job opportunities through 2030 across 

the country in just our oil and natural gas and petrochemical industries. These are good-paying careers that pay well above the national averages. 

The jobs the oil and gas industry creates will require people with 

a range of skill sets, training, and educational achievement levels, 

meaning that the opportunities we offer are not limited to a few 

highly skilled or specialized workers within a particular region of 

the country. What the report makes clear is that this Nation will 

not only be able to fulfill its potential as a global energy leader, but 

that we will not be able to fulfill our potential without more hands 

on deck, particularly minority and female workers. 

52 

The report estimates that there are nearly 408,000 job opportunities that could be filled by African American and Hispanic workers, 

with 185,000 of those being filled by women. African American and 

Hispanic workers are projected to make up nearly 20 percent of 

new hires in management, business and financial jobs through 

2030. These estimates are based on current and projected trends 

and factors such as labor, workforce participation rates, educational attainment, and should be considered a floor, not a ceiling, 

for job opportunities. 

In order to be competitive for all 1.3 million jobs, certain education and workforce training must occur. That is why we applaud 

the leadership, Mr. Rush, Chairman Whitfield, and others, in introducing H.R. 4526, the 21st Century Energy Workforce Development Jobs Initiative Act of 2014, and I want to thank other members of the subcommittee and other members of the House who 

have already cosponsored this important legislation. 

H.R. 4526 will help achieve our shared goal of fuller participation 

by more Americans in the 21st Century American energy renaissance by streamlining the coordination between the various sectors 

within the energy industry and the Federal Government, creating 

guidelines for training, encouraging STEM education that will expand the pool of qualified workers at all levels, and by working 

with State energy offices to provide high school counselors and regional job opportunities. The bill will also enhance a productive 

working relationship between the North America building trade 

unions who have been an invaluable partner with us in the oil and 

gas industry. 

We now have a labor management committee of 15 unions that 

we work with often to create job opportunities and specifically 

training opportunities to prepare this workforce of the future. 

Put simply, the bill helps bring our Nation closer to the day 

when the tremendous job creation and economic growth brought 

about by America’s vast energy resources are no longer projections, 

but are, indeed, reality. We strongly support the bill. We appreciate 

the bipartisan leadership, and we look forward to working with you 

on it. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Gerard follows:] 

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Mr. WHITFIELD. Thank you very much, Mr. Gerard. We appreciate the testimony of all of you. 

And at this time, I would recognize myself for 5 minutes of questions. 

Ms. Harris, as the Director of Economic Impact and Diversity, 

you are already working in this area of trying to encourage opportunities for minorities in the fields of energy. Has your Department 

had the opportunity to review this legislation in very much detail 

at this point? 

Ms. HARRIS. Yes, we have. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. And do you all support it, or do you have a process in which you make a determination that you will formally support a piece of legislation? 

Ms. HARRIS. The Department has not taken a position on the legislation, but I can say that is appreciation from the Department 

with the Ranking Member Rush’s leadership and this incredible, 

important topic for all of us. The goal and objectives of the legislation are very much consistent with what the Department focuses 

on, particularly with a mission of minorities in energy. Having congressional engagement at the highest level such as what you have 

done is very important to the Department. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. OK. And from your practical experience from 

where you are working now, you view that this would be quite 

helpful to you in encouraging more minorities in the energy sector? 

Ms. HARRIS. This bill will, for sure, support minorities in the energy sector, as we talked about earlier with some of the other panelists, where we have them in this country, we have to have participation by all; and with the growth of minorities for the demographics of this country, we actually have to support all women, 

minorities, to participate in order to support the energy sector. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. I was just curious. You have your degree in electrical engineering. 

Ms. HARRIS. Yes. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. And there are certainly a lot more men in engineering than women, but as a young girl growing up, how did you 

become interested in electrical engineering? 

Ms. HARRIS. Actually it was a field trip I took in my tenth grade 

class. I was planning on being a English teacher like many of my 

siblings. When I took this field trip to Savannah River, which is 

actually one of our national labs, and it was told to me how important it was opening for women, minorities, the money, the travel, 

and all those things that a young high schooler would be interested 

in. So as a result, I actually switched over and became interested. 

Went to the University of South Carolina as an engineer, and was 

the first African American woman to graduate from the Electrical 

Engineering Department at the University of South Carolina. So I 

have loved it ever since. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. And how old were you when you took that trip? 

Ms. HARRIS. I was 10th grade, so what, that made me—— 

Mr. WHITFIELD. So up until the 10th grade, you were going to be 

an English teacher and made the switch. 

Ms. HARRIS. Yes. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. That is encouraging. 

57 

Ms. HARRIS. Actually it was my chemistry teacher, Ms. Crumm. 

I will never forget her. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. She encouraged you. 

Ms. JACKSON. Yes. That is why teachers are so important. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. Absolutely. So, Ms. Jackson, you said that your 

organization had actually reviewed the legislation. You actually 

support it? 

Ms. JACKSON. Yes. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. How old is your organization? 

Ms. JACKSON. Thirty-seven years. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. Who started it? 

Ms. JACKSON. It was started by a gentleman named Clark Watson out of Denver, Colorado, and incorporated in Colorado in 1977, 

and then in DC in, I think, 1980. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Gerard, you touched on this, and, in fact, all 

the witnesses touched on it, about the tremendous opportunities 

that we do have in energy because of the shale finds and the 

changes in efficiency and renewables and everything else. It is really a dynamic sector. Do you all have programs already in which 

you work with minorities to encourage participation in the sector? 

Mr. GERARD. We do, Mr. Chairman. In fact, we are ramping 

those up in collaboration with Paula, with Dot, with Harry and others, as we go around the community, that was referenced earlier, 

what we call our Energize program. We have got an eight-city tour. 

We just agreed to add two more cities to that, where we are literally going into these areas, and Mr. Rush is well aware of this. 

We did one in Chicago, where we go in and we talk about these 

opportunities, hopefully the things that inspired Dot to go into electrical engineering, and we as an industry go in. We bring the community together. We educate around the industry and the job opportunities. We bring our member companies in where they can sit 

up and talk directly with individual students as well as others. 

We have a few other things we are doing. For example, we have 

recently launched a portal that is a bilingual portal in Spanish and 

English. It now has over 1,000 companies, community colleges, institutions, et cetera, where individuals can go online and look at 

the area where they live and find opportunities within the oil and 

gas industry. 

So we are taking this very seriously, and I hope you see by the 

report that we have put out now that we see this as key to the 

changing demographic in the country, not only the workforce turnover you mentioned earlier where we will see close to 50 percent 

of that workforce turn over in the next 10 years, but the new job 

creation as part of that 1.3 million number. Six, 700,000 of those 

are new jobs. So we have got to prepare that workforce. 

The last thing I would just say is when you look at that 1.3 million, about 63 percent of those fall in what we would call the traditional blue collar areas. So one of the beauties of the oil and gas 

industry is we span the entire continuum from the highest trained, 

highest skilled Ph.D.s, across the front to skilled, semiskilled, et 

cetera. So we have opportunities across the entire country, across 

our regions, and we want to make a big push, particularly in the 

minority community now, to train that workforce for the future. 

58 

Mr. WHITFIELD. Well, thank you. And my time has expired, so at 

this time I will recognize Mr. Rush for 5 minutes. 

Mr. RUSH. I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Alford, we 

have talked a lot about jobs and the relation to the energy sector, 

but we don’t spend enough time talking about business opportunities, and your organization is comprised of millions of business in 

the Nation. What opportunities can you foresee if this bill were to 

pass for business expansion and business creation for minorities 

and women? 

Mr. ALFORD. Great opportunities. The National Black Chamber 

of Commerce works pretty well with the oil and gas industry and 

coal. We have partnerships with Exxon, Chevron, Marathon, and 

others. We look at growth and that our strong suit is engineering 

and construction amongst our membership which applies to at the 

oil industry, the energy industry. So I think, and I am certain that 

the opportunities are there, the man is there, and what we have 

to do is match our talent with these opportunities. 

I know one of the largest construction companies in the country, 

their CEO told me he would hire graduates from Prairie View and 

Tuskegee Institute without interviewing them. The demand for 

them was so great. We talked about STEM, Science, Technology, 

Engineering and Math. HBCUs were doing that before it was cool. 

All the A and M colleges and universities provide product out 

there, and I think that it would behoove us to beat the drum and 

let everybody know that the talent is there. Let’s match it with opportunities. 

Mr. RUSH. Director Harris, give us a graphic in terms of how you 

foresee—if this bill were to become law—how do you foresee the 

Department of Energy and your focus, how do you see that really 

operating? How would that impact your day-to-day operations at 

the Department of Energy? 

Ms. HARRIS. My office in particular, which is focused on minorities in energy, we look at everything from community impact, business development, as well as educational support. So this bill 

would clearly be in parallel with a lot of things that we do in concert already. It would allow us to reach more of those communities, 

more of those students, and more of those businesses. We work in 

collaboration with other agencies, of course, and it will feed of 

course into the support we get from the Department of Commerce, 

for example, Department of Labor. It would simply augment and 

support and further develop what we are currently doing, which is 

important, because we all have to do so much over the next few 

years for all of us to catch up with the demand for the energy industry. 

This industry, 6 trillion, as I mentioned earlier, is what is seen 

across the globe for energy development. If we try to hire every engineer from not only minority-serving institutions or even the majority schools, it is going to be a fight for this country just to be 

able to catch up, so it would be critically important to supporters. 

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Gerard, you and I have had a number of conversations throughout the few years that we have known each 

other, and your report was very insightful, pivotal, and I enjoyed 

reading it, even when I am ready to go to bed. I like to read it and 

just imagine that—— 

59 

Mr. GERARD. I will send you another copy if you need—I will 

produce another one and let you read it. 

Mr. RUSH. All right. Can you discuss with this subcommittee the 

risk of the energy sector? And if we don’t proactively train and prepare the 21st century energy workforce, I mean, what is at stake? 

What are we risking by not implementing the spirit and the tenets 

of this bill? What is at stake? 

Mr. GERARD. First of all, Mr. Rush, I think it is a great question. 

We need to think about it in a broader context as well. Let me suggest there is probably at least two dimensions we ought to think 

about in terms of risk. The first one is where we position ourselves 

in the global economy and geopolitics of the world today. It is fascinating when you see the various unrest around the world, you 

can find underpinning a lot of that conversation to be tied to energy. We are in a very unique opportunity now as a Nation that 

we have never been in before. We have moved from scarcity to 

abundance literally overnight. 

And by doing that we have got to catch up with that mind set 

and actually move this quicker, so I would suggest the first risk is 

a global risk as a Nation. We are now the world’s number one natural gas producer. No one would have predicted that 5 years ago. 

Some have said we are already there. Others believe we are about 

to be the world’s number one oil producer, surpassing Saudi Arabia. 

So when you look at what is going in Russia; you look at what 

is going on the Middle East; you look at our European friends. I 

was at an event over the weekend with many ambassadors where 

they are all begging me, saying you have got to send us your energy. You send us your energy. It changes that geopolitical dynamic, so I think that’s the first risk. 

The second one I would suggest is just our opportunity as a Nation to put our people to work. If you look at the average compensation of the oil and gas industry today in the private sector, 

it is about 90-, $96,000 a job. That compares to $49,000 on average 

for the rest of the Nation. These are not just jobs. These are careers. These are what give the Dots of the world, if you will, a huge 

opportunity. So our risk is that if we don’t engage this process, help 

bring our people the skill set and focus on the policies necessary 

to achieve this energy renaissance, as a Nation, we run the risk 

that we are going to frankly hurt our economy and hurt our people 

in addition to our world standing. 

Mr. RUSH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. Thank you, Mr. Rush. 

At this time, I would like to recognize the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Griffith, for 5 minutes. 

Mr. GRIFFITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate that very 

much. I appreciate you all being here on this important issue. I am 

going to pick on Mr. Alford and Mr. Gerard for just a minute and 

throw you a little bit of a curve ball. 

We are working on a resolution today on the floor related to supporting the Ukraine. And in paragraph 15 of that resolution, in the 

‘‘Resolved’’ columns, the United States Congress, if it passes this 

resolution later today, will call on the Ukraine and other countries 

to support energy diversification initiatives to reduce the ability of 

60 

the Russian Federation to use its energy exports as a means of applying political or economic pressure, including by promoting increased natural gas exports from the United States and other countries. 

So I would ask you, Mr. Alford, and you, Mr. Gerard: Do you believe that if we export our natural gas, we can have both a—more 

power in the world without using our military force and create jobs 

for all Americans, including the minorities listed in this particular 

bill that we are discussing today. 

Mr. ALFORD. I think we need all of the above. 

Energy is the lifeblood of enterprise. And I think we should be 

the most powerful Nation in the world, which we are, and I pray 

to God that we will continue. And though we may walk through the 

valley of death, we will fear no evil because we are the toughest, 

strongest, richest Nation walking in that valley. 

I hope I answered that question. 

Mr. GRIFFITH. I believe you did. Mr. Gerard. 

And I agree with you. 

Mr. Gerard, do you want to try to follow that? 

Mr. GERARD. The power in the world, the answer is absolutely. 

In terms of creating jobs, absolutely. 

Let me add a third dimension to you: Environment. There is a 

lot of talk out there. And this gets right back to the LNG export 

question. DOE has done an analysis that shows, by exporting our 

natural gas, not only do we wean some of our allies off other parts 

of the world where they would prefer to have more diversity of options; but it shows that for those that are focused on the carbon 

emissions, carbon emissions go down on a global scale. 

So not only can we achieve this domestically—we are at a 20- 

year low in this country in carbon emissions. We are now 10 percent below where we were in 2005. Why? It wasn’t because of policy. It is because the economy came back and we are producing 

abundant amounts of clean-burning natural gas. 

So when you look at the same dynamic in the global economy— 

you look at Asia, you look at Europe, and elsewhere—you can get 

the same benefits. So this is a big deal that goes well beyond the 

traditional job creation geopolitical alliances. 

Mr. GRIFFITH. Well, and, I would have to agree. I think this is 

a great bill. We have to figure out how we are going to pay for everything, but we should be encouraging minorities to get into the 

energy sector. I believe it is a growth second for the United States 

for a long time to come. 

Does anybody disagree with that? I want to start with Ms. Harris. Does anybody disagree this is a growth sector for the United 

States economy, energy? 

Ms. HARRIS. I absolutely agree with you, for sure, yes, sir. 

Mr. GRIFFITH. Yes. 

Mr. ALFORD. It is a game changer. 

Mr. GRIFFITH. Ms. Bell. 

Ms. BELL. Yes. And particularly in clean technologies. 

Ms. JACKSON. I agree with you. 

Mr. GERARD. It is one of the few bright spots we have in our current struggling economy. 

61 

Mr. GRIFFITH. Well, and, I would agree with that as well, and I 

believe in all of the above. Of course, I come from a district that 

produces natural gas and coal, so I don’t ever want to pick on the 

folks in coal. And I am very appreciative in this resolution that coal 

is listed. It is not excluded as sometimes happens to be the case. 

And I hope that we can find new ways to use coal, even cleaner 

than we are using it today. It is cleaner now than it has ever been, 

but I think we can do better. 

And I hope that we will have some bright, young, energetic 

minds, including our women, Hispanics, African Americans, et 

cetera, working on that problem as well. And I appreciate you all 

being here today on this important bill. Thank you so much. 

And, Mr. Chairman, with that, I will yield back. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. Thank you, Mr. Griffith. 

At this time, I recognize the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Green, 

for 5 minutes. 

Mr. GREEN. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. And the panel heard my 

opening statement. 

I represent a very blue-color district in East Harris County. At 

any given time, our district has five refineries and lots of chemical 

plants, plus lots of service companies who hire my constituents to 

go out to the oil patch and work. 

And being a native Houstonian, this is the best economy I have 

ever seen. We used to joke about in the ’70s how great it was. But 

then we had the ’80s; and Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma was in a 

depression in the ’80s. And the rest of the country was doing oK, 

I guess, but we were in terrible shape. 

But our problem is—my goal in my district is I want to make 

sure—because I have a majority Hispanic district. Probably 85 percent of our student population is Hispanic, Mexican-American ancestry—is to make sure they know those jobs are there. And so we 

do job fares every year. In fact, I didn’t get to go to my one this 

last Monday night because we had votes. But we had 500 people 

there with their parents, talking about job fare earlier and then career days where we help people fill out their paperwork for colleges. 

And—but the industry supports us, and I have seen that. Our job 

fare we did just recently, we had 80 employers. And back in 2008 

and 2009, we were lucky to get 25 or 30. 

So—but my goal is to get those young people out of my high 

schools. If they don’t want to go to college, we have community colleges that they can go to. And, frankly, industry is helping fund 

that, so they can get those skills. 

And the Secretary of Labor was in Houston about 2 weeks ago 

and was at the San Jacinto Community College in my area. And 

you can come out of high school with a high school diploma, take 

certification in certain skills, and make $80,000 a year. There was 

one young man who had taken certification so much that he was 

going to get his associates degree, 2 years, and he had a job offer 

for $120,000 with high school, plus community college skills training. So it is a great problem to have. 

Mr. Gerard, according to your testimony to the panel, accessed 

information pertaining to opportunities in the energy field is the 

number one obstacle that needs to be cleared. What steps has API 

62 

taken to create outreach or provide access to the different communities to provide information about energy jobs? 

Mr. GERARD. I touched on that a little earlier, Mr. Green. But 

let me just add, we have created, in concert with many at this table 

and many others—Hispanics in Energy and some others that are 

key to your constituency—we are going around the country right 

now on city tours. We are having similar, I guess, you would call 

them job fares where we are coming out, talking about the issues. 

We have created a bilingual portal now that has over 1,000 companies, community colleges, and others to those who speak Spanish 

can go on. 

But the last thing I would add that we found is very important 

in this industry we are learning, in addition to the quantitative 

work we have done as you see in this report, we are also doing 

qualitative group where we are holding focus groups and others 

and finding out what is most important to these different segments 

of our society. 

For example, amongst the women, we are finding it is a workplace balance question where they want to be able to continue with 

family, but yet have opportunity. So we are nuancing our approach 

to make sure we are focused on what is important to these different segments. 

So we have got a lot of things going, and we expect to have more 

over time. It won’t happen overnight. But we are committed to this 

long-term, and we believe it is going to happen. 

Mr. GREEN. OK. Director Harris, like I said, we have done job 

fares that focus on high school students coming out at the end of 

May. Has DOE conducted any research or outreach to local high 

schools, particularly in the area of the energy, whether it be in our 

areas, oil and gas, and downstream jobs at the refineries or chemical plants or maybe upstream? But I know coal is also interested. 

But has DOE looked at that workforce issue and done research and 

outreach of the high schools? 

Ms. HARRIS. Oh, absolutely. As a matter of fact, we look at K 

through 12, in addition to, you know, collegiate students, and then 

looking at that whole from—I use the term from kindergarten all 

the way through employment. And the fact that you are from 

Houston, which is the most diverse city in the country—right?—so 

we have been working very closely a lot in Texas, but across the 

country having a lot of internships, even through the Department 

that we support through high school. We have a lot of energy literacy. One of our offices promote that we get into the schools. We 

have been working very closely with the superintendents in the 

schools. 

And you mentioned another area, community colleges so we are 

working with a lot of models of students being—once they get their 

high school degree, they also get certification. When they receive 

their high school degree, they can actually go directly into the 

workforce. So, absolutely, we are working very closely with K 

through 12. 

Mr. GREEN. Mr. Alford and Ms. Jackson, can you explain in any 

more detail what you have done with leaders in the Hispanic community, in addition to this legislation, and what—where can it be 

helpful? 

63 

Mr. ALFORD. Is this to me? 

Mr. GREEN. Yes. 

Mr. ALFORD. Well, we actually have a pretty big initiative with 

the Hispanic community because we have chapters in Columbia 

and Costa Rica. We work well with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of 

Commerce and Latino coalition. 

So you will find—and especially when we talk about New York 

and Miami and others, you would find a black population that their 

first language is Spanish. 

Mr. GREEN. Yes. 

Mr. ALFORD. So it is mixed. And we are brothers and sisters, and 

we are working together. 

Let me also compliment Houston because it is consistently the 

number 1, 2, or 3 best market for black-owned businesses in the 

country. 

Mr. GREEN. Yes. 

Ms. JACKSON. You know, we, as an association, work very closely 

with Hispanics in energy. So that is our sister association. And 

while they are much younger, what we try to do in working on 

some of the projects that even Mr. Gerard has talked about, is talk 

about cultural adaptability. 

And so providing some insight to industry and organizations 

about how we, as African-Americans or Latinos, think about the industry, who are the people who influence the kinds of jobs we 

want. Are we more apt to think about colleges versus blue collar? 

Do we listen to guidance counselors versus our parents? 

I mean, so part of kind of the learning that we have had—and 

this collaboration is kind of providing that type of insight, so that 

you are not only offering the information, but you are offering it 

to the people who influence those who make those types of decisions. 

The second piece, though, is also having an understanding of 

what are the challenges? Why do students not look at STEM as an 

opportunity? Why do they not look at energy as an opportunity? 

And more specifically, maybe even oil and natural gas or your traditional utilities. 

People—students don’t necessarily see it as glamorous. Sometimes we as industry talk about well-paying jobs, and that doesn’t 

resonate with young people. We talk about jobs for life; that does 

not resonate with young people. When you talk about global, innovative, exciting, that resonates with them. 

And so we try to bring all of that together in these kind of community forums to provide a better sense of understanding, not only 

to the community members, but also to industry as they try to recruit. 

Mr. GREEN. Mr. Chairman, thank you. My goal is, minorities live 

next to those plants on the fence line; they ought to be able to go 

work there and enjoy the benefits of that, and so that is our goal. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. Gentleman’s time has expired. 

At this time, I recognize the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. 

Pitts, for 5 minutes. 

Mr. PITTS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

64 

For all of the talk about growing income inequality, another 

great concern is a decrease in opportunities for Americans to have 

economic upward mobility, and this has been a key part of the 

American dream. 

Can each of you please give a brief assessment on how the energy sector is providing opportunities to people that have technical 

training of some kind, not necessarily a college degree? We will 

start with you, Director Harris, and just go right down the line. 

Ms. HARRIS. When you look at the employment—when people 

think of the energy sector, they think it is comprised of just 4-yeardegree folks, engineers. But it is the supporting disciplines such as, 

you know, pipe fitters and all of the—what I call community college-level work. And that is very important. 

Because when I—I was an engineer in Westinghouse, for example. When I would go onto a project, I will be a supervisor with 

maybe five engineers, but then I may have a crew of 15 technicians. So you need the technical supporting workforce. 

So I would say, absolutely, when you look at not only the—just 

the 4-year and engineering types, but everything from the business 

side. We work a lot with community colleges, focusing, again, that 

energy requires all technical support. But you need business leaders. You need to go into the colleges and go into the business 

schools, the marketing schools to actually support this whole infrastructure. 

So I use a term, there is probably very few people in this country 

in the workforce that cannot find a job in the energy industry. So 

it is very broad, and it is something that we need to educate our 

students and our communities more on. 

Mr. PITTS. Thank you. Mr. Alford. 

Mr. ALFORD. Yes. During the Katrina rebuild, we partnered with 

various oil companies and construction companies to have a training program in East Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and East Alabama—West Alabama. It was surprising to see how many of those 

kids graduated and entered into the labor market, from pipe fitters 

to oil riggers. 

Right now, Exxon still has that program going on in Baton 

Rouge. And to see a young kid come out of West Baton Rouge, who 

probably was destined to be a gang banger and slinging drugs, 

come out with little education, but craft and an $80,000 job. And 

that is someone who is going to have a productive life. 

Mr. PITTS. Thank you. 

Ms. BELL. I would have to say, a lot of the industries that have 

traditionally touched the energy efficiency industry have relied 

heavily on skilled workers, particularly in the construction industry. 

I would also say, within the efficiency community, we are seeing 

a growing community of entrepreneurs, particularly in an area 

around information technology called intelligent efficiency. And 

this requires skills in computing, business, information technology, 

and in industrial settings. And this is an area that is going to require training and trained workers as well. 

Mr. PITTS. Thank you. Ms. Jackson. 

Ms. JACKSON. You know, I would say that part of what has gotten us in the situation that we are in today in terms of this workVerDate Mar 15 2010 10:56 Apr 01, 2015 Jkt 037690 PO 00000 Frm 00068 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\113-174 HR 4526 - HAVE EDITS\113-174 HR 4526 - PENDING WAYNE
65 

force pipeline is that this industry offers incredible stability. And 

so when we talk about these high percentages of people who are 

about to retire, it is because they have been in organizations with 

30, 40 years. And so you can have a really fruitful career. It doesn’t 

mean that you are in the same job for 40 years, but you have a 

long career doing a myriad of different things; but that if you like 

the organization that you are working for and they like you and 

you do a good job, you could literally start at 21 and retire at 65 

and be in the same place. And I don’t know that there are many 

other industries that can tell that kind of story across sectors like 

this one can. 

Mr. PITTS. Thank you. 

Mr. Gerard. 

Mr. GERARD. Yes. The only other thing I would add to that—and 

I think Paula makes a great point—is we view these as careers as 

long-term careers. So upward mobility in the oil and gas industry, 

there is great upward mobility. And as I mentioned earlier, 50 percent of our workforce will turnover in the next decade. 

But I think the other piece of it we shouldn’t overlook is the compensation associated with that upward mobility, because the median average wage in the U.S. Today at $49,700. Ours is $96,000. 

And so these are great paying jobs. They are the type of jobs a lot 

of folks would love to have. And that is why this connection between these various segments in our industry is so important. We 

are putting a real focus on it. 

But the technical skills—this report we have released, it shows 

1.3 million job opportunities. 63 percent of those fall in the traditional blue collar area. 

So you can get various skill levels that are required, all the way 

up to the Ph.D. We have young people leaving high school in North 

Dakota, making $100,000 driving a truck. And so these are great 

opportunities. 

So we view ourselves as one-stop shopping, if you will, from 

whatever skill level you have, all the way to the most advanced in 

our society. 

Mr. PITTS. Thank you. My time has expired. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. The gentleman’s time has expired. 

At this time, I recognize the distinguished gentleman from Louisville, Mr. Yarmuth, for 5 minutes. 

Mr. YARMUTH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, fellow Kentuckian. It 

is good to be here. And I want to thank you and Mr. Rush for your 

leadership on this issue. It is a rare instance of bipartisanship 

where we can actually discuss in harmony a policy that, I think, 

has great potential for the country. 

I certainly agree with all of you that the energy field is going to 

be a source of continuing job growth and is one of the areas that 

we can look to to solving some of our employment challenges. And 

we have seen that in my district already. 

We, because of a tax credit that Congress approved to reward the 

manufacturers of energy efficient appliances for manufacturing 

those appliances in the United States, General Electric brought a 

line of energy efficient hybrid water heaters back from China to 

Appliance Park in Louisville, creating—bringing back 420 jobs. So 

we know we can do that. 

66 

And I am reading a book now that is fascinating to me, and I 

recommend it to everybody. It is called The Second Machine Age, 

and it deals with the impact of the digital revolution on a lot of aspects of life, but particularly on employment. And one of the 

themes of the book, with regard to employment, is that, as we 

move forward, the kind of jobs that will survive are not necessarily 

jobs that require education, they are jobs that don’t involve a repetitive process, that if you are in a job that involves a repetitive process, that that is probably going to be eliminated by digital technology. And you think of bank tellers and checkout clerks at supermarkets and so forth. 

So I am interested—Ms. Bell, you, I think, alluded to this in your 

testimony that the—and I know that in your prepared testimony, 

that your analysis is or your organization’s that EPA’s clean power 

plan will generate over $625 billion in investment in various energy-efficiency industries and create an average of more than 

400,000 jobs a year. 

Are these the types of jobs that I am talking about that don’t involve repetitive processes and seem to be kind of insulated against 

obsolescence because of digital technologies? It is the long way to 

get to a question. I apologize for that. 

Ms. BELL. Well, as I previously mentioned, so I think that—the 

short answer would be yes. When we perform these analyses, a lot 

of the job creation that we see is within the construction industry, 

which are jobs that don’t necessarily involve those types of repetitive processes that you mentioned. They are also jobs that you 

can’t really outsource. If you need somebody to work on your home, 

that is going to rely very heavily on local labor. 

Mr. YARMUTH. All right. Thank you. 

And, Director Harris, we know that besides the traditional energy jobs in oil, gas, coal, and nuclear, there will also be tremendous opportunities for minorities and women within the clean energy sector as well. 

In your opinion—well, in addition, I mean, everybody seems to 

agree that there are going to be a lot of good jobs for wage earners 

and salaried workers in the industry. 

Do you see an opportunity for underrepresented communities to 

become entrepreneurs and to start their own businesses as a result 

of the emphasis of this legislation? 

Ms. HARRIS. Absolutely. As a matter of fact, entrepreneurship, 

which is one area we work very closely with minority entrepreneurs. I am a previous owner myself. I am an entrepreneur as 

well outside of this, when I return to my private life. 

So, yes. Absolutely. Entrepreneurship is the—you know, of 

course, entrepreneurs employ, what, 90 percent of the jobs in this 

country. So, yes, absolutely. Particularly with the development that 

is happening in this country, we would have to rely on a lot of the 

entrepreneurs to promote the development here in energy. 

Mr. YARMUTH. OK. 

Ms. HARRIS. Yes. 

Mr. YARMUTH. Well, I appreciate your testimony and all of your 

efforts in this regard. I think it is something that we can all get 

behind. And I, once again, thank the chairman and ranking member for their work. I yield back. 

67 

Mr.WHITFIELD. Gentleman yields back. 

At this time, I recognize the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. 

Shimkus, for 5 minutes. 

Mr. SHIMKUS. Thank you, Chairman. Appreciate it. Sorry I have 

been in and out. But I am not going to have a lot of questions. 

Primarily the statement that, even in the great recession, in my 

district, we were building a coal-fired power plant and we are expanding a major refinery. So thousands of mostly building trade, 

union workers had jobs in the worst cycle of job creation, or lack 

thereof, in decades because of the fossil fuel sector. 

That is the ConocoPhillips refinery that expanded to take oil 

sands, to take obviously the Keystone Pipeline and now hopefully 

Keystone XL eventually, to refine that, and to put it into the market. 

And I also want to just take the note of—I am an American Legion member, life member, and an Army veteran, so I get the magazine. In their September magazine, they do an expose on the 

Bakken and how it is a great place for veterans to find jobs. 

So I would—so this is right up the alley of what we should also 

be thankful for in the fossil fuel sector: Good jobs, high paid wages, 

health care benefits, and really valuable work for, not just our Nation, but national security. 

As we become more energy independent here in our country, 

those who focus on the problems around the world—I like to focus 

on the Russian Federation that extorts allies on the fossil fuel sector. The more we are able to export crude oil and LNG and we have 

got to build those—we have got to retrofit the LNG terminals, the 

more we help our allies who are democratic countries around this 

world be free. 

And so we are in a—we are in a very exciting period of time in 

our history, if we take advantage of it. So I want to applaud my 

friend, Bobby Rush, from the State of Illinois for helping us look 

at how we can get people more—more people back to work. 

And then in that, our country is strong militarily. We all know 

that. In this world today, we also have to be strong economically, 

and that is when people work. 

And so I appreciate your testimony and you being here, and we 

look forward to working with you. 

Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to put that on the record. I yield 

back. 

Mr.WHITFIELD. Gentleman yields back. At this time, I recognize 

the gentleman from New York, Mr. Engel, for 5 minutes. 

Mr. ENGEL. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

A number of the questions I have been asked, but I just want to 

make a statement and then perhaps ask a question at the end. 

So thank you. Thank you to the panel for being here and for 

sharing your views. I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Mr. 

Rush as well for holding the hearing. 

As our economy continues to recover, I am grateful that my colleagues and I have an opportunity to discuss such a critical aspect 

of America’s economic future, which, of course, is the energy sector. 

I am excited about the energy sector, and I am glad this committee is not only taking the time to focus on the potential the energy industry holds for job creation, but also on how this potential 

68 

might positively impact women, Hispanic-Americans, and AfricanAmericans. 

The aim of the legislation is certainly commendable, providing 

the direct assistance to community colleges, schools with certain 

minorities, and workforce training institutions. I have many of 

those in my district. As the bill proposes would be a valuable tool 

in helping women and minorities succeed in the energy careers. 

But I think we can and should look beyond higher education. 

Both Forbes and The New York Times recently reported that the 

STEM academic divide between white men, women, and minorities 

materializes years before college. This can happen for different reasons. Entrenched stereotypes about the professional and academic 

prospects for women in STEM fields have prevented teachers from 

devoting the same resources to young female students as their middle classmates. 

And, additionally, according to the National Science Foundation, 

schools in primarily minority areas often hire teachers who are not 

as experienced in STEM disciplines as the teachers in primarily 

white areas. 

Before I ever entered politics, I was a classroom teacher in my 

hometown of the Bronx, New York. I wanted to teach in minority 

areas at the time and did so for 7 or 8 years before politics caught 

my eye and went in a different direction. 

But I felt then, as I feel now, that if younger people are exposed 

to these kinds of things—we used to have a period called ‘‘chop,’’ 

and we would teach young boys certain skills and—but unfortunately, those were stereotyped. Girls did cooking, and boys did 

something else. Those are, I guess, the bad old days, but the intentions were really good. 

So I really think that there is no magic bullet to solve these obvious problems, but I feel that these issues need to be discussed. And 

as Mr. Alford said in his testimony, it is critical to engage students, 

not just at the college level, but also at a younger age. I taught in 

the middle school setting. 

I was heartened to hear Ms. Jackson’s description of efforts of 

the American Association of Blacks in Energy has taken to encourage elementary, middle, and high school students to take an interest in energy careers. 

Director Harris, let me ask you one question. I know it was sort 

of asked by Mr. Green, but perhaps if you could expand. Does the 

Department of Energy have any plans to help ensure that young 

female minority students’ interest in the sciences are not forgotten 

or dismissed before they reach college? Perhaps you could expand 

on what you mentioned when you answered Mr. Green. 

Ms. HARRIS. I am the senior official for the Department for the 

White House Council for Women and Girls. Girls—as a matter of 

fact, all students, we want to catch them right where you were 

teaching, in middle school. If you capture a kid about the 6th 

grade, that is when you can get them interested in science, in 

STEM. 

We work with a whole host of students—girls in particular— 

across the country. Everything from Girls Inc., Girls Scouts. My 

team know, when I travel, probably a good 30 percent of my travel 

has been focusing in STEM area, in visiting students and girls, in 

69 

particular, all across the country. So this is a very, very, not only 

important initiative for the Department, Secretary Moniz, but me 

personally. I am very committed to this one. 

Mr. ENGEL. Thank you. Let me ask you or anyone else who 

would care to answer. We know things are moving in the right direction. At least, I believe they are. Obviously, we still have a long 

way to go because these things have been engrained in society for 

a number of years. 

And perhaps some of you had answered this while I was gone, 

but do you finally feel that we are getting it right, that we are moving in the right direction, albeit slowly, probably not fast enough? 

Is there hope? Are you hopeful that we are finally getting in and 

that energy, in particular—because it obviously is something that 

is so important—is the right field to get younger people interested 

in? 

I have been a strong supporter of the U.S. energy. We are now 

the number 1 energy producer in the world, and I think that I am 

also on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and I think that energy is 

important in geopolitical discussions as well. It can make the 

United States even more of a player. 

So I just—if any of you would care to comment on direction. Yes. 

Mr. Alford. 

Mr. ALFORD. Yes, sir. Well, here is another cliche. But you fish 

where the fish are biting. And energy is offering jobs by the thousands, and doesn’t require serious education, I mean, multilevel 

education. 

In fact, we are starting an ex-offender program where we are getting these kids coming out of prison and teaching them some skills 

or how to become an entrepreneur, how to make a widget and go 

sell it to people who buy widgets. And we are looking at the energy 

field as a marketplace for this, too, in addition to the other industries. 

Mr. ENGEL. Yes. 

Ms. JACKSON. I think we are getting it right. I think we are on 

the path to getting it right. I think our biggest challenge has really 

been, not a lack of interest by students, but a lack of information. 

And so the more that we talk about this field and this industry as 

an opportunity, it certainly piques their interest. 

I will give you one example. A year ago I was speaking to a 

group, and I met a young woman who was studying petroleum engineering and was unsure as to whether or not she would be marketable. And I asked her to send me her resume, and I was amazed 

to find that this woman had already had a BS in biology. She spoke 

five languages, including Arabic, and had no idea that someone 

would want to hire her. 

And so we have just got to do a better job of letting students 

know that, hey, you know, we are here and we want you, because 

it just doesn’t cross their mind. 

Mr. GERARD. Mr. Engel, I think the verdict is still out. But I 

think our real test as a Nation—it goes back to the question Mr. 

Rush asked earlier—what is the risk if we don’t get this right. And 

from your vantage point, being on Foreign Affairs, you see those 

risks in a very intimate, direct way. 

70 

But I think 3 or 4 years from now, if we look back on this point, 

and based on all the collaboration we are seeing, the leadership of 

this legislation, others, this is really the turning point. And part of 

that is an understanding on the part of the American public that 

we truly have moved from scarcity to abundance, and we have now 

got to shift that mindset. 

It shouldn’t be based on the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s. And 

that comes to public policy questions, like oil exports and others 

that Mr. Shimkus mentioned earlier. If we take advantage of those 

opportunities, and you know the implications of that better than I 

do in terms of our allies, our partners around the world, then I 

think we can look back at this time and declare a job well-done, 

that we captured the vision, we seized the moment, and we really 

moved us in a new direction. And it benefits all Americans from 

whatever walk of life. 

But the focus here now creates the opportunity 5, 6 years down 

the road, we can look back and see how well we did, but I don’t 

think we know yet. We have got to stay after this. This can’t be 

a fleeting moment. It has got to be a long-term commitment, and 

we have got to stay at it, and then I think we will begin to see the 

culture change. 

Mr. ENGEL. I agree. Thank you. 

Thank you Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. Thank you. And that concludes the questions for 

today. Mr. Rush. 

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Chairman, I ask for unanimous consent to enter 

into the record a letter in support of the bill from the National 

Urban League. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. Without objection, so ordered. 

[The information follows:] 

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93816.038
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93816.039
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Mr. RUSH. And, Mr. Chairman, if you don’t mind, as we conclude 

this hearing, I must, again, applaud you, Mr. Chairman, and applaud all the members of the subcommittee on both sides of the 

aisle. This has been a rare occurrence here in the Congress over 

many years where you have bipartisan support, collaboration on an 

issue that is before the American people. 

And I just can’t—it just gladdens my heart to know that this 

subcommittee is formulated by individuals who really care about 

their constituents and about the American people and who are visionary enough to see the opportunities, geopolitical, nationally, locally; that by aggressively and proactively and creatively harnessing the energy and the imagination of our people, the consciousness of our people to really take advantage of all the opportunity that we are blessed with in regards to this whole energy sector. 

I mean, to squander these blessings would be the most awful sin 

that we can commit to the future of this Nation. And I just want 

to salute you and the courage of the other members of the subcommittee that have participated, and those who would have except for the need of other obligations. 

But this is the spirit that I think that we all aspire to, realizing 

to be a part of when we take the oath to serve this Nation and our 

constituents. So, again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for your leadership. 

Mr. WHITFIELD. Well, Mr. Rush, thank you. And it is a very important subject. 

And during the hearing, I actually whispered to Mr. Rush if he 

felt uncomfortable in this kind of bipartisan effort. But it is an important issue obviously, and I look forward to working with all of 

you and our staffs doing more on this 21st Century Workforce Development Act. 

And thank you so much for your testimony. And all of you provided real insights for us, and it was quite helpful. And as I said, 

I look forward to working with all of you. 

The record will remain open for 10 days for any additional materials. And that concludes today’s hearing. Thank you very much. 

[Whereupon, at 11:36 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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