Ten years ago, industry leaders in Oklahoma had a vision: to restore abandoned well sites and educate the community on the contributions of the oil and gas industry. The motivation for the vision, led by a charge of grassroots producers from Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, came in part as a result of a research study conducted by the American Petroleum Institute. That study concluded oil was second only to tobacco as the industry with the worst image. The public viewed the industry as one of declining economic importance with little regard for the environment.
In 1994, the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board (OERB) was formed, funded through a voluntary assessment of 0.1% of oil and gas sales paid by Oklahoma's producers and royalty owners. OERB developed marketing and advertising materials to educate people through the most successful public outreach campaign ever developed for the oil and gas industry while restoring the environment to its natural state.
The focus of the plan is not only that the oil and gas industry is voluntarily cleaning up abandoned well sites, but that it is returning the land, in most cases someone's property and livelihood, to a usable state. Emotions run high as the landowners explain how the cleanups bring back heritage and family legacy.
OERB was formed out of a desire to share the truth about Oklahoma's oil and gas industry - and what better place to start than in our classrooms? Teaming up with concerned Oklahoma teachers, OERB developed factual programs that are fun to teach and exciting to learn. The science-based curricula include Fossils to Fuel, which takes elementary school students through the basic concepts of how energy is transformed from the sun to carbon-based matter, petroleum and ultimately into our homes and schools, and Petro Active, a 6-week course for middle school students that delivers practical information about the formation and recovery of oil and gas, along with energy experiments that can be performed in the classroom.
Another component of the energy education program includes Petroleum Professionals in the Classroom. Industry professionals volunteer to visit Oklahoma classrooms and show students the science and business sides of their industry.
Are our efforts successful? The Oklahoma oil and gas industry has spent more than US $15 million to restore more than 3,300 sites in 56 of Oklahoma's 77 counties and has educated more than 300,000 students about the benefits the oil and gas industry provides to them. And research has confirmed the image of the industry has improved 73% since 1995. The public's knowledge of the importance of the oil and gas industry also is increasing due to our outreach messages, as 80% of those surveyed view the oil and gas industry as very or extremely important to the state's economy.
Illinois and Ohio have implemented similar voluntary assessment programs. The Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program and Illinois Petroleum Resources Board (IPRB) have coordinated energy curriculum programs into their schools and safety programs for emergency responders. IPRB also has a restoration and plugging plan, designed following the success of OERB's efforts to combat historical environmental issues caused by the producers of a bygone era.
Interest in OERB and similar programs continues to grow across the country. Who will be next to join and oppose misconceptions about the oil and gas industry in their state, with their own story? Could it be Texas?
Last year, said Charles Seely, president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, Texas producers introduced legislation to create an organization similar to Oklahoma's "checkoff" program. Despite obstacles, they managed to get the bill passed out of the state House of Representatives and Senate only to be vetoed by the governor. They plan to try again.
Our experience has shown this kind of program can work anywhere in the world.

Jim Palm is president of OERB.

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