NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons traveled to Texas on Thursday for the sixth stop in the 2016 State of Manufacturing Tour. With co-host Bell Helicopter’s training facilities in Fort Worth as the backdrop, Timmons delivered a speech focused on shedding light on the perceptions of modern manufacturing as well as calling for action from elected officials and candidates alike to improve our nation’s energy, environment and infrastructure policies as part of the NAM’s detailed “Competing to Win” 2016 platform. Below are some excerpts.
On Access to Energy Resources:
“With our abundance of diverse resources, the United States is uniquely positioned to chart an energy future that raises the standard of living for all Americans. To do so, however, we must utilize every source of affordable, secure energy available. This will mean expediting the permitting process for onshore and offshore energy exploration, opening more federal lands to responsible development, building new pipelines and energy delivery infrastructure and removing regulatory barriers that hamper energy projects of all types. It will also mean maintaining and improving our power grid and ensuring manufacturers can access energy from all sources when they need it, even as we work for cleaner air and lower emissions.”
On Environmental Regulations:
“Too often, our environmental agenda works at cross-purposes with these goals. Two recent examples come to mind. Together they will add a serious weight to our economy, on top of the $330 billion our environmental regulations already cost. The first is the EPA’s new greenhouse gas regulations for power plants, which could, in many areas of the country, raise electricity costs for consumers and manufacturers and compromise energy reliability.
“That’s why the NAM filed hundreds of pages of comments with the EPA on how to better craft this regulation, and why we have asked the EPA to go back to the drawing board and fix this rule before moving forward. We have also asked the Supreme Court for an implementation delay until the many lawsuits challenging the rule have been resolved.
“The second troubling action was the creation of an even tighter standard for ozone. Experts say this could be one of the most expensive environmental regulations in history. At a time when air quality is better than it’s been in decades and billions in investments are being made that will further that progress, many jurisdictions could essentially be closed for business under this new rule if Congress or the courts don’t step in to restore some balance. Otherwise, manufacturers will face restrictions on construction, equipment use and more.”
On Infrastructure:
“Those very same standards could affect transportation infrastructure as well. Areas that cannot meet the overly stringent limits could lose federal highway dollars and be forced to sideline needed projects…ones that would ultimately reduce gridlock and result in cleaner air.”
“Clearly our nation needs to stop viewing energy, environment, infrastructure and the economy through separate lenses. They are all interconnected, and our policies must treat them as such.”
Timmons also touched on the United States’ partnership at this year’s Hannover Messe and the work the NAM is doing in partnership with Siemens Software and the U.S. Department of Commerce to rally manufacturers in the United States to participate and demonstrate our global leadership.
“Now, this leadership is already on display across America, as 12 million people are building our future,” Timmons said. “Manufacturers contribute more than $2 trillion to the national GDP. Here in Texas, manufacturers have a total output of more than $230 billion. If manufacturing in the United States were its own country, it would be the ninth-largest economy in the world.”
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Prior to his speech, Timmons toured the Bell Helicopter Training Academy. Fun fact: The Bell X-1 was the first to break the speed of sound!
Timmons and the team then traveled to Lockheed Martin for a systems demonstration and tour of the facility, led by Don Kinard, senior technical fellow and one of Lockheed’s lead engineers. Kinard and his team demonstrated laser maps and white technology. Read more about these technologies in Kinard’s guest blog here.
Joint Op-Ed: Choose Leaders Who Would Strengthen Manufacturing
The following op-ed by Jay Timmons and Texas Association of Business State Board Chair Sara Tays ran exclusively in today’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
With less than a month left until Texas votes in its Super Tuesday primary, only a short time remains to size up the candidates seeking to lead our country.
For those who care about the U.S. economy and believe in American exceptionalism, there is only one choice: Vote for candidates who will strengthen manufacturing in the United States.
The U.S. is a nation of makers and doers. When manufacturing succeeds, America succeeds.
In Texas, manufacturers add more than $230 billion to the state economy and employ more than 860,000 people.
Manufacturing has the largest multiplier effect of any industry. A dollar invested in manufacturing adds $1.40 in economic activity.
Manufacturers are helping the United States remain the world’s economic leader. But we cannot continue to compete and win in the global marketplace without the right policies here at home. Read the full op-ed here.
Social Media Wrap Day 6
Check out the highlights from our social media and don’t forget to follow @shopfloorNAM on Twitter and Shopfloor on Facebook for the latest updates from the road.
Don’t forget Shopfloor is on Instagram. Check out a special Throwback Thursday post from the tour:
One more stop to go! Check back in tomorrow for what’s happening at our final stop in Baltimore, Md. Stay in touch real time by following us on Facebook, Twitter @shopfloorNAM and online at www.nam.org/stateofmfg. Be sure to share your tweets and pics with #stateofmfg and #weareMFG.