In an otherwise contentious 115th Congress, the US House of Representatives approved a bill aimed at improving career opportunities for women, minorities, and veterans in the energy and other major US industries.
H.R. 1338, which Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) introduced on Jan. 5, passed the full House under suspended rules on June 12 and was sent to the Senate, where it was referred to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The measure would direct the US Department of Energy to prioritize educating and training workers from now-underrepresented groups for US energy and manufacturing careers. DOE also would be required to establish a clearinghouse for information on job training and other workforce development programs.
"This bill brings together government agencies, including the national labs, the energy and manufacturing industries, unions, schools, community colleges and universities, among others, and promotes cooperation and collaboration to ensure that we are tapping into a wealth of underutilized talent and are training and preparing workers for the energy and manufacturing jobs of the present and also of the future," said Rush, the ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee's Energy Subcommittee.
Efforts by ExxonMobil Corp. and the Texas Gulf Coast Community College Consortium already are trying to help train people from underrepresented groups in his Harris County and East Texas district for energy industry careers, noted Rep. Gene Green (D-Tex.). "The industry needs skilled workers, and we need to create opportunity for everyone," he said.
The National Urban League, American Association for Blacks in Energy, and similar groups have called for more science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education for their constituencies. DOE's Fossil Energy Office already has an active Historically Black Colleges & Universities and Other Minority Institutions research support program.
A 10-year projection
Economic data show that roughly 1 million more STEM graduates will be needed in the US over the next decade even for jobs in nontraditional STEM fields where critical thinking is important, Suzanne McCarron wrote at ExxxonMobil's web site.
"We employ more than 44,000 professionals-including 29,000 scientists and engineers-so our future depends on a diverse workforce with strong STEM skills," she wrote. "While the need is great, our education system isn't preparing enough STEM-savvy students to meet this demand and isn't providing enough access to STEM education for minority students."
The American Petroleum Institute welcomed the House's action. "A skilled, highly trained energy workforce is essential to continuing the US energy renaissance," API Executive Vice-Pres. and Chief Strategy Officer Martin J. Durbin said. "This important bill promotes the education and workforce training needed to ensure that underrepresented communities can secure a growing number of new energy-sector opportunities."
Nick Snow
NICK SNOW covered oil and gas in Washington for more than 30 years. He worked in several capacities for The Oil Daily and was founding editor of Petroleum Finance Week before joining OGJ as its Washington correspondent in September 2005 and becoming its full-time Washington editor in October 2007. He retired from OGJ in January 2020.
