Talked to my dad today, he's a 30+ year retired oilfield worker. He's worked on rigs all over the world. I've grown up with the boom & bust nature of that industry. It's been good for my family & it's been volatile. My mom always said it was feast or famine. 1/
He brought up the ad attacking @HornForCongress about not saving 90K jobs in Oklahoma...the thing is, they've been gone for a while & no one wants to talk about it. (Also, he laughed at someone on a rig wearing anything but coveralls, let alone a white shirt) 2/
The first people who get laid off are rig workers; arguably the ones doing the hardest, dirtiest, most dangerous work. The companies protect investors, partners & shareholders -- not the people leaving their kids & families for weeks at a time, risking their lives 3/
Do you know there's a weekly rig count? Do you know at one point we had over 200 rigs online in Okla? Today there's about a dozen. This is driven by a lot of things, but the biggest factor is the price per barrel of oil. If it's low, the crude is worth more in the the ground 4/
We are probably never going to see oil prices as high as they were back in 2008 where it was nearly $150. When prices drop, rigs get closed. Workers & their families (and those of the support industries) are at the mercy of this metric. 5/
Oklahoma has relied on the Oil & Gas sector heavily in our short history as a state -- it's been feast or famine. When it's been good it's been great & when it's been bad, it's been really hard. Diversification of our energy sector can fix this. 5/
This is not a black & white issue; there isn't a switch to be flipped. Voting Republican isn't going to bring the price of crude up, rigs back online & put people back to work. The golden era of oil & gas is winding down & we need to adapt so we aren't left furth behind. 6/
We have an immense opportunity in Okla. with a skilled workforce & natural (renewable & clean) resources. I want leadership that doesn't just want to recreate the past. I want leaders who can imagine a future that's even better for all of us. 7/
@HornForCongress is the right person for the job when it comes to helping OK become a leader for all types of energy. She's not promising things she has no control over, she's not using oil & gas workers who have lost their jobs as pawns. She's ready to get to work. 8/8
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