Labor Day is about more than a long weekend. It’s about the American worker—the men and women whose skill and determination built this country and who keep it running.
This year, let’s give special thanks to America’s energy workers: the people on drilling rigs and production platforms, in refineries and power plants, along pipelines and transmission lines, and behind the wheel of trucks. They work nights, weekends, holidays—in the heat, the cold, offshore, underground, far from home. Because they do, America works.
That matters more than ever this Labor Day, as families feel the pressure of higher energy prices. Gas is running around $4 a gallon nationally, driven up by international conflict and instability in global energy routes. Families don’t need an economist to explain that—they see it at the pump, and they feel it elsewhere too. Farmers need fuel. Truckers need diesel. Factories need power. When energy gets more expensive, those costs ripple through the whole economy. Energy affordability is not simply an energy issue. It’s a kitchen-table issue.
And it’s worth understanding: American energy workers aren’t the reason prices are rising. They’re one of our best defenses against prices rising further. We can’t control every war or every threat to a shipping lane overseas. But we can control whether we develop our own resources, maintain our infrastructure, and support the workforce capable of doing that work.
At USA Energy Workers, we believe that when America needs energy, we should bet on the American worker. That doesn’t mean choosing between reliable energy and a clean environment. Energy workers live in the same communities, breathe the same air, fish the same waters, and raise families under the same skies as everyone else. We call it balancing the 3Es®–Environment, Energy, and Economy. Those goals should work together, not against each other, and American energy workers prove every day that they can, operating under serious safety and environmental standards while getting better at the job over time.
Recent global turmoil is a reminder of how quickly events overseas can hit an American family’s pocketbook. We can’t isolate ourselves from world energy markets, but we can make ourselves less vulnerable to disruptions abroad. That takes long-term thinking. Pipelines, refineries, and power plants can’t be built overnight after a crisis hits, and a skilled workforce can’t be switched on and off on command.
Predictable policy matters. Timely permitting matters. Infrastructure and investment matter. But above all, workers matter.
So this Labor Day, while we celebrate the dignity of all work, I hope Americans will think about the energy behind our way of life—and the people behind that energy. When you flip on the lights, thank an energy worker.
From the Gulf of America to the Permian Basin, they’ve powered this nation through wars, recessions, hurricanes, pandemics, and uncertainty.
Bet on the American worker. They remain undefeated.