Politics seems to be the only line of work where you don’t have to base your arguments in fact. For example, see the Mark-Udall-for-Senate campaign’s recent claim that Charles and David Koch want to “trap … Colorado families in poverty.” This comment echoes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s recent statement that the Kochs are “un-American.” Such attacks are directed at everyone who supports the same causes as the Kochs, including the two of us.
These attacks are blatantly false. We want nothing more than to help the least fortunate.
We have devoted our lives to lifting people out of poverty. That’s why the two of us proudly stand by the Kochs’ side and support their efforts to defend limited government and the free market. We believe that the free market — a system in which individuals make choices for themselves, rather than politicians or bureaucrats making choices for them — is the surest way to raise everyone’s standard of living.
American history bears this out. Since states amended their constitutions in the first half of the 19th century to include “general incorporation laws,” which allow businesses to form without express government approval, individuals and entrepreneurs — rather than bureaucrats and politicians — have driven the economic advances that we now take for granted. They have done so by creating products that improve people’s lives. Think of Edison Electric, Ford Motor Company, Sears, Berkshire Hathaway, Wal-Mart, Apple, Google, Uber, and thousands of other historical and modern day examples.
Government has an important role to play in facilitating such a system. It must establish a legal system that treats everyone equally — no subsidies, loopholes, exemptions, special interest giveaways, etc. It must also craft sensible regulations that encourage responsible business practices, rather than burdensome ones that hinder innovation and economic progress.
This system is increasingly under threat. In their zeal to regulate and mandate both how businesses operate and individuals live, politicians have created a system in which entrepreneurs must focus on keeping government happy, rather than customers. Unsurprisingly, this encourages and empowers lobbyists, not consumers.
Americans see this all around us, hence the frequent — and accurate — complaints that special interests have too much power in Washington. Such is the nature of an ever-larger government — it gives special interests more reason and opportunities to grease the wheels of power.
Our businesses are good examples of the power of free market innovation absent undue government interference. Twenty-two years ago, we started a technology company that helped catalyze the American shale oil and gas revolution. We did so by inventing, innovating, and experimenting with the technologies involved in hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”
Our work has benefited Americans in two main ways:
First, the shale boom has lowered annual energy costs by an average of $1,500 per American family. Natural gas is now more than 50 percent cheaper than it is in Europe or Asia, where fracking is essentially non-existent. This lowers heating and electricity bills, which eat up a larger percentage of the poor’s disposable income, while lowering prices on everyday goods at the grocery store and elsewhere.
Second, fracking creates well-paying jobs. Here in Colorado, it created more than 77,000 jobs by 2012. The cheap energy that’s flowing from fracking has even led to a rebound in American manufacturing. Overall, it supports at least 1.7 million jobs across the country — a number that may rise to 3.5 million within two decades.
These benefits have been enhanced and protected by Colorado’s strict and sensible regulation of fracking. Yet now politicians in Colorado and bureaucrats in Washington are trying to curtail or shut down fracking altogether. Our industry now has to divert efforts away from improvements in fracking technology — which will bring economic benefits to a larger number of people — and toward government lobbying.
This perverts and ultimately destroys the free market — and it helps no one. It only harms the poor and the middle class who benefit from the cheap energy, increased jobs, and the stimulus effects our work has across the wider economy.
This is why we proudly stand with the Kochs. Whether the issue is energy, health care, housing, or anything else, our experience shows us that individuals and innovators are better at helping the poor than politicians or bureaucrats.
Chris and Liz Wright live in Denver. They are supporters of Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce. Chris Wright is the CEO of Liberty Resources and Liberty Oilfield Services, both Denver-based companies focused on hydraulic fracturing and energy production.
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