I want to tell you about my friend Tom. Tom went to college but graduated a few years ago and could not find a good job. After months of searching, he ended up working as a bartender. He worked five days a week from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Tom didn’t like the hours of his job and he didn’t like working in a bar. But it was a job and he did his best. After tips, he made about $35k per year.
Six months ago, Tom got offered a job by an oil company. It just so happens that I live in northern Colorado, where there is an oil and gas boom of epic proportions. Tom’s starting salary? $50k per year, with the potential to make $70k within a year or so. Tom’s working hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and his company gave him a brand new truck to drive on the work site.
Tom’s story is not unique. I know literally a dozen people who are either working for an oil company or working for a company that provides services to an oil company. They all tell the same story: starting salaries are great, working conditions are great, and they feel part of something that is growing and has a future.
In Tom’s case, he recently got married, and he says one of the reasons he was able to make the commitment of marriage is that he now has a stable job making more money. He plans on buying a house soon. Importantly, he feels his marriage will be more stable if he is not working at a bar until 2 a.m. but instead is home for dinner every night.
People seem to forget that good jobs make for good families and for stable communities. From a Gospel perspective, it seems obvious to me that we should favor policies that allow the creation of new high-paying jobs in the private sector.
Unfortunately, many people seem to favor the latest left-wing cause rather than having compassion for the American worker. Make no mistake: most of these causes are favored by people who work in academia or government. Most of these causes claim to want to “save” one thing or another. But the proponents of these causes could care less about Tom and the literally millions of other people who need a good job today.
In Weld County, which is the center of the oil boom in Northern Colorado, the unemployment rate has fallen from over 11 percent in 2010 to less than 4 percent today. The oil and gas boom is causing a construction boom and an employment boom. Let me explain how this works and how this benefits everybody.
Oil and gas companies generally pay 20 to 40 percent more than other industries. So if you are working at Wal Mart for $9/hour, and you see that an oil company is offering $13/hour you are likely to take that job. After Wal Mart loses enough employees, they start raising wages. This spreads throughout the economy, causing wage increases for everybody.
Where I live, there are “help wanted” signs literally everywhere you go. Companies are desperate to hire. Yes, many people still make $9/hour, but companies, even fast food companies, will quickly raise their wages to keep employees. So it is very common to see people in low-skill jobs making $10/hour or more after only three months on the job. Because of the huge demand for workers, people are promoted very quickly, so there are new opportunities for advancement into management. It is not uncommon to hear stories from people who started a job at $8.50/hour being promoted to manager at $15/hour within a year.
The fascinating thing is that this boom is most beneficial to the “working class.” One young woman in my ward just graduated from high school and is studying to be a welder. A welder, you say? Yes, because starting welders can easily make $40k a year, and it is extremely common for welders with three or four years’ experience to make $100k a year in northern Colorado.
People making more money means more demand for houses, so there are more jobs in construction. People making more money means more demand for cars, so car sales are booming. This process has spread throughout the economy.
Meanwhile, local governments are making more money from taxes, so new schools and infrastructure are being built.
This virtuous cycle of economic growth caused by the private sector is the foundation of American prosperity. But I have also noticed a huge uptick in general optimism and hope among my neighbors. A growing, vibrant economy offers people opportunities, not just for material things, but for creating stable home environments. Stagnant or sinking economies mean depression and anxiety; growing economies create hope.
This post is not about whether or not one technology or another is “safe.” People who hate fossil fuels tend to ignore the face that all sources of energy have risks. Solar energy (which I favor) has risks that many don’t consider. Wind turbines (which I also favor) are killing millions of birds and bats, including endangered species like the bald eagle.
For those concerned about fracking and other extraction technologies, let’s put it this way: I live in an area surrounded by fracking. I literally put my money where my mouth is by making a large investment in my house. I spent time talking to geologists about the risks of fracking before moving here. I have zero fears about fracking, a technology that has been around for decades, contaminating my water or causing earthquakes. Those supposed risks are hugely exaggerated, as detailed in this article from a neutral source.
Some day decades from now we will look back at our time and laugh at how we used to get energy. If we can learn anything from history, it is that new technologies are certain to come along, and I predict that fossil fuels will eventually be replaced by something else as an energy source.
It is also true that the last few months have shown us that the oil and gas business can be a fickle one. Many extraction companies are likely to go out of business because of plummeting oil prices. Some of these companies may even be in northern Colorado. But history also shows that eventually these jobs will return, and in the meantime companies are still hiring, at least where I live.
In the meantime, we have a human crisis, which is that many opportunities for American prosperity are dwindling. The American worker is suffering from higher prices and fewer career options. We have, in my opinion, a moral obligation to support the few areas of the economy where workers can still find jobs and pursue prosperity. Can you spare no compassion for these forgotten people, these forgotten American workers? I hope you can.