Our high school soccer team had a rough season. We lacked the ability to score and had a losing record going into the playoffs despite the boys’ hard work and improvement.

In the playoffs, their goal was still to win the state championship. In the first playoff game, we scored an early goal. With less than four minutes to go in the game, our opponent scored. With less than a minute left, they were awarded a penalty kick and scored to lead 2-1. Our boys fought right to the end but couldn’t score. No state tournament or championship this year.

The boys were devastated. They complained about the referee’s calls on the two goals. We were playing on the road. I was too far away to judge whether the calls were fair or not. My lesson to the boys was, we should have played better. Blaming the officials won’t change anything. Placing blame is weakness, gives others control and is not the sign of a leader.

The U.S oil and gas industry is focused on the future, not blame. Tuesday I was a guest on LiveNOW, a Fox streaming program, representing Shale Crescent USA, talking about how oil prices are expected to drop in 2026. The CEO of Chevron stated, “The USA currently produces more oil and natural gas than Russia and Saudi Arabia combined.” The host asked, “What’s it going to take to ramp up this production in the next few months?” I responded, “We just have to drill a few more wells. The Permian (Basin) has very prolific oil wells and the Shale Crescent USA has very prolific gas wells.”

The host told me beforehand, “When President Trump is ready to speak in Japan, we will cut away to him.” I had just enough time to explain, “Our economy runs on energy not interest rates. This is important for all Americans. Shale Crescent USA research shows for the last 50-plus years, every major recession has been preceded by a spike in energy prices. Energy drives the economy. It’s not just what we pay at the pump; it’s what we pay at the grocery store. It’s our computers. My shirt is made of plastic fibers. All are energy dependent. It’s the polyethylene, the polypropylene, those molecules are just as important as the energy itself.”

Energy isn’t an option; it is essential. When people pay more for energy, they have less money to spend. Companies reduce production and lay off workers, ultimately causing a recession. Lower energy prices mean people have more money to spend. They eat out more, buy consumer products or take a more expensive vacation, growing the economy. With Europe’s high energy prices, their economy isn’t growing. European companies come to the USA to sell into our large and growing market. Increasing U.S. oil and gas production increases global supply and lowers energy prices.

A recent article produced by Visual Capitalists with data from the Energy Institute showed 2024 world energy use (all forms) increased 2% to 103 trillion barrels of oil equivalents. Of that, 34% is from oil, 28% is coal, 25% is natural gas, 5% is nuclear, 6% is renewables and 3% is hydro. Fossil fuels supply 87% of the world’s energy.

The USA is taking responsibility for its energy. Some people and groups like to blame oil, gas and coal companies who power our country for climate change. It’s easy to say, “Get rid of 87% of the worlds energy and replace it with renewables.” Hard to do. Rather than blame, they should do something positive. Maybe work with the successful U.S. energy industry for new and creative solutions.

When we take responsibility, we take control instead of giving control to others. In the 2021 boys state championship game we had a 3-2 lead with just over a minute to go. Then the head referee made a call I haven’t seen since I was coaching under-12 recreational soccer over 30 years ago. He called our goalkeeper for holding the ball longer than 6 seconds. We were stunned. Our opponent scored on the free kick, sending the game into overtime.

The video afterward clearly showed our goalkeeper got rid of the ball in 5 seconds. A bad call. It didn’t matter. We were going into overtime.

As coaches, we felt the championship was stolen. After our coaches’ discussion, I ran over to where the boys were sitting, worried about where their heads were. I shouldn’t have worried. Our captains were great leaders. The boys were talking and laughing. They looked at me and said, “We got this coach!” Our team dominated the short overtime. Four minutes in, Sully, one of our captains, on a cross from Sam, slammed the ball into the back of the net and the celebration of our sixth state championship began. The boys didn’t blame. They chose to win.

Sadly, we have U.S. senators in Washington who don’t understand this and are content with blaming each other. Some Senators think letting kids go hungry is OK. Hungry people who don’t have a paycheck to pay their bills or have had their SNAP benefits cut don’t care about resolving a health care policy at their expense. The senators who aren’t doing their jobs are still getting paid and not going hungry. Government employees still working are not getting paid. I wonder how many of these senators may suddenly have a primary opponent.

Rather than just blaming, Americans are taking actions to feed people. Local businesses are stepping in to help. People are donating to food pantries. Churches are taking up collections to help. Americans won’t allow people to go hungry. I wonder how many senators and Congressmen are donating, especially those who voted to shut down the government. State governments are stepping in to help.

Blame doesn’t solve problems. Leaders take responsibility and action. We need leaders not blamers. We have leaders in the energy industry. What about Washington?

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is the director of marketing for Shale Crescent USA. He is a professional engineer with a masters in environmental engineering and over 40 years of experience in the energy industry. Greg is a leadership expert, high school soccer coach, professional speaker, author of four books and many published articles.