Jul. 3--Thousands of Oklahoma jobs are at stake as debate rages in Congress over how hard the Legislature should push to get Americans to shift from oil and natural gas to renewable energy sources.

Special interest groups seem to agree jobs are at stake. They strongly disagree, however, on whether proposed energy and environmental legislation would lead to an increase or decrease in Oklahoma jobs.

The Natural Resources Defense Council released a study this week that contends the American Clean Energy Security Act and other green energy bills will create more than 1.7 million clean energy jobs in the U.S., including more than 27,600 in Oklahoma.

The study was done by the Political Economy Research Institute, which was described as an independent unit of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

"We think this is a driver of economic activity," said Dan Lashof, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council Climate Center. "Our analysis shows the bill would produce jobs by driving investments in domestic renewable energy production and energy efficiency measures such as putting people to work insulating homes and installing more efficient air conditioning equipment."

About the same time the Natural Resources Defense Council was touting that study, the American Petroleum Institute released a study by IHS Global Insight which concluded Oklahoma could lose anywhere from 13,100 to 61,000 jobs if federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing is mandated.

Hydraulic fracturing is a technique considered essential to getting natural gas and oil out of shale and many other underground formations.

Currently it is regulated by various state entities, but a bill was introduced to establish federal control to protect groundwater.

What opposition says The HIS study concluded that just placing hydraulic fracturing under federal Underground Injection Control compliance regulations would cost Oklahoma 13,100 jobs and banning hydraulic fracturing altogether would cost Oklahoma 61,000 jobs.

Chip Minty, spokesman for Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy Corp., said Oklahoma oil and gas companies aren't opposed to developing renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.

"We support that," he said. "That's a great opportunity for our state to broaden its job base."

What the oil and gas industry opposes is efforts to help renewable energy get ahead by punishing the oil and gas industry, he said.

"It doesn't have to be that way," Minty said. "A lot of the rhetoric we're seeing in Washington right now leads us to think we phase out of one industry and into another. ... We don't believe that's realistic and we also don't think it's wise to even try to influence the broader energy industry that way."

Minty said that for the country to be successful, Devon believes it needs to develop every type of energy source it has.

"That means wind, solar, oil, natural gas, nuclear and biofuels, as well as the types of industries that are out there still being developed," he said.

-----

To see more of The Oklahoman, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsok.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NYSE:DVN,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.