Utopia. In my mind, it would include the following: a U.S. unemployment rate hovering around 2% or 3%, plentiful domestic oil and natural gas so that Americans pay less for their energy and rely less on foreign supplies, a sustainable balance between finding and development costs and profit (at $4 gas), and growing demand for all the new shale gas and oil we can—and will—produce.

That's really not such a tall order. The upstream and midstream are steadily marching toward this goal already, one of the few sectors creating jobs. One of the other sectors recovering, at least somewhat, is American manufacturing. Coincidentally, these two rely on each other. Jobs. Energy. Energy. Jobs.

But President Obama's job-creation plan never mentioned the oil and gas industry. (He did mention new incentives for employers to hire more veterans—something the oil and gas industry is already doing.) And woefully, he says that to pay for his jobs bill, he wants to take away certain oil industry tax "loopholes" worth $41 billion.

This does not compute. Wall Street and Main Street lamented that total nonfarm employment made a net zero gain from July 2011 to August 2011. But that same month, the oil and gas industry added 4,725 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. From June 2011 through August, it added 9,325 jobs.

The American Petroleum Institute's Jack Gerard said, "With a few common sense changes in energy policy, an industry that created more than 9,000 jobs this summer alone—and now supports 9.2 million across the nation—could do far more."

Meanwhile, Texas industry payrolls also rose to an estimated 230,400, about 16.8% more than in July 2010, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. That's only 3,000 people fewer than the number of upstream Texas workers at the peak, October 2008. What's more, this doesn't factor in the job boom in North Dakota and Pennsylvania.

There is so much potential for greater natural gas and shale-oil production—but we'll need to create more jobs for that. The International Energy Agency estimates more than one-third of the global gas-production increase projected over the next 25 years could come from shales, tight sands and coalbed methane sources.

But the public still needs to understand how the industry will do it. In August, the IPAA reminded us, "Shale-gas extraction is a construction process that requires heavy equipment and confronts difficult challenges. While it uses space-age technology…it is not computer-chip manufacturing done in air-conditioned, controlled confines. Communities need to understand that the industry and regulators recognize there are environmental risks to development, and effectively manage those risks…and there will be disruptive activities during drilling. Industry needs to improve its response to local concerns."

The industry is working to bolster its leadership in environmental stewardship onshore and offshore. There is the Texas Railroad Commission Task Force on the Eagle Ford shale. There is the new Shell Oil-University of Texas five-year program to study shale technologies.

At the request of Energy Secretary Chu, the Secretary's Energy Advisory Board, Shale Gas Production Subcommittee, chaired by MIT professor John Deutch and involving many other energy industry experts such as Daniel Yergin, issued its preliminary report in August. It recommends dozens of steps industry must take for air and water quality, public education and R&D. It says, "As shale gas becomes an increasingly important part of our nation's energy supply, it is crucial to bring a better understanding of the environmental impacts—both current and potential—and ensure that they are properly addressed. Current output of shale gas and its potential…emphasize the need to assure that this supply is produced in an environmentally sound fashion that meets the…public trust."

We can do this, and we will, even as gas prices pose a challenge. A key theme at Barclays Capital's annual energy confab in New York last month? E&P companies are preparing to live with $4 gas for some time, and working to drive costs down. "We read this as an implicit expectation that the market will remain well-supplied even at current price levels, forestalling a recovery in prices," Barclays said.

"Are investors pushing for gas-production restraint and shifting their focus to returns? Not yet. All producers must still have a volumetric growth story, regardless of what they produce. Yet, investors appeared worried about their gas investments."

Barclays expects gas production to grow next year, albeit at a slower pace than in 2011.

Are you in? Our DUG Eagle Ford event is in San Antonio on October 10-12, and you can register and review the agenda at dugeagleford.com. And, our 3rd annual DUG East is on tap in Pittsburgh, November 15-17, where you can network with Marcellus and Utica shale players. To see the full agenda and register, go to dugeast.com.

For more commentary from Leslie Haines, see the blog "Leslie's Notebook" at OilandGasInvestor.com.