OPINION

American Oil and Gas Needed a Voice

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Hat’s off to my friend, co-host and boss, Chris Faulkner. This past Monday, the Dallas Business Journal announced their 2014 Who’s Who in Energy list. Under the Oil and Gas tab, it read the following:

James L. Poston, Aruba Petroleum

T. Boone Pickens, BP Capital

Chris Faulkner, Breitling Energy

I have to admit, I was pretty proud when I read that Monday afternoon. I’ve been working with Chris on radio programs since December of 2013, and immediately I became aware of his incredibly sharp, witty and fast-thinking mind. These days, he and I may do up to 7 hours of oil and gas radio a week, and when you get to know someone that closely, you find out pretty fast from what cloth they’re cut.

Chris made another DBJ prestigious list this year. He was recognized on their “40 Under 40” list of business movers and shakers in the Dallas Ft. Worth Metroplex who had made their mark before their 40th birthday. But with Chris, he’s done it twice. He started in college with a tech company that he grew to be the 3rd largest in the nation, and now he’s in the perfect spot of building an independent oil and gas company (Breitling Energy), and being recognized in the company of T. Boone, Rex Tillerson of Exxon and many other fine industry leaders.

Chris is a passionate spokesman for American energy independence. As he likes to say, “American Oil from American soil”. He realized the oil and gas industry didn’t have a prominent spokesperson on the forefront of educating the public. So he decided to do what he could, almost as a one-man-band. He appears on CNBC frequently. Stuart Varney at Fox Business loves having him on. The BBC always makes a slot when he’s in the U.K. He travels the world speaking at conferences, meeting privately with U.S. lawmakers, and even addresses sessions of Parliament.

This June, he released his first book, “The Fracking Truth”, which has become popular inside and outside the industry as a quick-read, non-jargonized look at what this fracking revolution is all about. Facts, not emotion. Education not hype.

He realized that talk radio is another vehicle that could get the message out, and he’s been working with me to build Powering America Radio into a brand that reaches into communities from Honolulu to Miami, as we discuss what the shale revolution means for America.

Hat’s off Chris. You deserve the recognition. It’s been a great ride for this transplanted Texan and somewhere along the way, as Charles Osgood says, “I’ll see you on the radio....”

Powering America Radio is heard daily on the Wall Street Business Network at 4:00 Eastern and is co-sponsored by Crude Energy, LLC and Breitling Energy Corporation.