NOIA - Political action: Success in the hands of industry employees

Getting our workforce to the polls is the first step

The motto "Your vote is your voice" is once again getting a quick dust-off in time for what will surely be one of the most hotly contested presidential elections since, well – the last presidential election, which was the closest in US history. The mud will fly fast and furious and US energy supply issues are likely to be an important issue in the upcoming election – though surely not in the way that supporters of the energy industry would hope. Instead, industry opponents are gearing up their spin-machines to spread the myth that industry is "buying influence" with campaign contributions and otherwise subverting democracy through the use of our economic leverage. That isn't true, and anyone that has observed energy policy closely over the past 30 years knows it. If industry had significant influence over the nation's energy policy, we would live in a very different world.

We at NOIA think it is about time that industry does influence an election. We're working hard to ensure that industry develops real clout in Washington, and we are not talking about campaign contributions and fundraising. Money is an important component of the political process, but we want to turn out voters. Here's how.

Real CLOUT

When weighed against the importance of energy in American life and the energy industry's immense contributions to US economic growth, the industry's collective political clout remains disproportionately small. Compared to the political machines that trade unions such as the United Auto Workers or the Teamsters have in place or with the impressive GOTV (Get-Out-The-Vote) efforts of the National Rifle Association and the AARP, the energy industry doesn't even register on the Richter scale. Why? Because although the industry has donated plenty of money to campaigns, industry has never been effective in motivating its own voter base to go to the polls!

Real political clout will come only if the energy industry can motivate its supporters to vote. But most corporate leaders have made only limited efforts to motivate the industry's most obvious support base: the industry workforce. Educated, concerned, and eager to improve the industry's prestige and economic position, employees are typically attuned to energy concerns and interested in doing their part to ensure a bright future for their company.

However, companies that invest millions in long-term strategic financial planning often invest nothing in strategic political planning. But political decisions made in Washington impact business outcomes, sometimes positively, sometimes not. At NOIA, we are in the business of securing positive political outcomes, but at the end of the day, the real political influence lies in the hands of our members. NOIA staff cannot vote for our membership. However, we can now provide our member companies and employees the tools they need to quickly and easily speak out – and make Washington leaders take notice.

Business is a unifying force in the electorate. Business leaders have a unique opportunity to motivate a crucial voting segment to action. According to a 2004 Moore Information poll, 82% of Americans have a positive perception of businesses in their local community and 65% have a favorable opinion of local CEOs. Industry leaders have an unprecedented opportunity to keep the kitchen table issues – issues that don't make front page news, but that do make a difference in the lives of the industry workforce – before the majority of the electorate: employees.

The employer is the provider of family wages, family benefits, and family security through investments, and voters recognize the employer's expertise on these subjects. In a recent poll, 78% of respondents either wished their company would provide information on government and politics, or were open to receiving the information. Only 22% were not interested in hearing from the company.

When offered a choice about who can offer the most credible political information – a political party, a labor union or an employer – the highest percentage of those surveyed identified the employer as the most credible source. More importantly, 31% of working women – a crucial demographic – agreed that their employer was the most credible source of political information.

NOIA and BIPAC

NOIA has recently partnered with the Business Industry Political Action Comm-ittee (BIPAC) to help prepare the offshore industry's workforce for the upcoming election. BIPAC's mission is to identify, endorse and elect pro-business members to Con-gress, and the organization has been an important part of the business community's efforts to involve their workers in the political process. BIPAC worked with NOIA to develop cutting-edge Web-based tools that enable member companies to identify, educate, and motivate their employees to make informed choices at the ballot box. These powerful tools, which are dubbed Real CLOUT and can be found at www.noia.org, allow industry to reach a large group of voters that labor doesn't appeal to and the political parties can't reach. These are the voters who will make the difference in critical elections.

BIPAC President Greg Casey writes, "Less than half of eligible US citizens vote. Labor unions – skilled at voter turnout—represent less than 10% of employed Americans. Business represents all of them. Employers talk to employees everyday. Many employers have begun to talk to their workforce about the people and policies that can impact their jobs. This helps to restore the sort of representative elections that keep democracies healthy and it helps the workforce feel better informed, invested, and motivated to vote."

Election 2004

The political reality is simple; not only was the presidential election of 2000 the closest in modern history, but also neither political party has been able to generate voting majorities in any of the last three national elections. That means that 2004 is likely to be a repeat of 2000, with critical races coming down to less than a few thousand votes. The races will depend almost entirely on which side is most successful in turning out voters. The outcome of elections in the House, Senate, and White House will certainly affect the offshore energy industry. These races will help determine whether an energy bill is passed, whether industry advocates are successful in reforming the Coastal Zone Management Act, and ultimately, in determining the degree of industry access to offshore energy resources.