CEO of oil group sees no slowdown in US production. : The U.S. oil and gas industry is praised by supporters for boosting America to the forefront of global production and attacked by critics who blame it for sowing doubt about the scientific consensus that burning fossil fuels is changing the Earth's climate. The American Petroleum Institute is the energy industry's lobbyist in Washington. These days it is led by Mike Sommers, previously the chief of staff for former Republican House Speaker John Boehner.