(CNSNews.com) - Domestic energy production should be a major part of the 2012 election discussion, says the nation’s largest trade association for the oil and natural gas industry.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Wednesday launched a “Vote 4 Energy” campaign “that will help Americans understand what’s at stake and why energy issues should figure prominently in their voting decisions,” API President and CEO Jack Gerard said.

Pressure is mounting on President Obama to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, which – when completed – would bring crude oil from Canada to refineries in the U.S. Gulf Coast.

By law (a provision inserted into the bill extending the payroll tax cut), Obama has 47 days left to accept or reject the Keystone pipeline extension.

Further adding to the pressure on Obama, the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee has posted an online clock to draw attention to President Obama’s ongoing delay of the Keystone XL energy pipeline. So far, 13 days have passed since Congress gave the president 60 days to accept or reject the project.

The American Petroleum Institute is one of the Keystone project’s biggest boosters.

Gerard told a gathering in Washington, D.C., that the Keystone XL pipeline is the “most shovel-ready” project in the country. He urged Obama to “do the right thing” and approve the project. He also warned that a decision against the pipeline would have “political consequences.”

Gerard noted that if Obama does not approve or reject the pipeline within the 60 days set by law, the project can proceed without further approval.

Although the API does not endorse specific candidates, it does plan to elevate the issue of domestic energy production – the pipeline included.

And it’s not just oil from Canada that will help the U.S., Gerard emphasized on Wednesday.

The United States is an energy-rich nation, he explained. Taking oil, natural gas and coal into account, “the United States has the largest energy resources in the world -- more than Saudi Arabia, more than Russia, more than China, more than Iran, Iraq, Libya and Kuwait combined.”

According to API, developing all domestic energy resources – including nuclear, biofuels and renewables – would generate funds for the U.S. Treasury, provide badly needed American jobs and boost national security by making America less dependent on foreign oil producers.

“Accessing more of our domestic oil and natural gas, which is currently placed off limits by government decision, could create a new 1.4 million American jobs, and one million of those would be created in the next seven years,” Gerard said.

Gerard mentioned the economic boom in North Dakota, where shale oil production has made that state the fourth largest oil producer in the country with the nation’s lowest unemployment rate at 3 percent.

“One in seven of today’s college graduates live at home because they can’t find good jobs,” Gerard said. “In North Dakota, young people working in the oil and gas industry hold jobs that pay more than their parents earn.”

The federal government already collects $86 million a day from leasing fees, taxes and royalties, and Gerard noted that “pro-development energy policies” could return more than $800 billion additional dollars to the federal treasury by 2030.

“This is not a vision of an America at the mercy of other oil-producing regions but of an America that holds the reins to her own energy security,” Gerard said.

Gerard offered veiled criticism of the Obama administration for advocating only certain energy investments, favoring particular resources, and often opposing domestic oil and natural gas production.

‘We Can’t Wait,’ Republicans Say

The Obama State Department spent three years conducting a thorough environmental assessment of the Keystone XL pipeline, but late last year, as decision time approached, President Obama said no decision would be made until after the 2012 election.

Two of Obama’s key constituencies disagree on the pipeline project: Labor unions want it to proceed because of the high-paying jobs it would create; environmental activists strongly oppose the project, warning of devastation along its route.

“President Obama says ‘we can’t wait’ to act on jobs,” said House Speaker John Boehner in an email on Wednesday, “and yet that’s exactly what his indecision on the Keystone energy project has out-of-work Americans doing: waiting.

“After three years of reviews, reports, and delays, the president only has 48 more days (as of Wednesday) to make a decision on this job-creating energy project – how much longer will he keep the American people waiting?”

Republicans note that 47 House Democrats joined Republicans in supporting legislation (H.R. 1938) requiring a speedy decision (within 60 days) on the pipeline.