A top official in the oil industry says Appalachia could end up being a major player in the oil and natural gas industry, even as many in coal country blame President Obama for targeting them with job-killing environmental regulations.

Jack Gerard, the president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, says the market is showing that the American public prefers natural gas over coal. The natural gas boom of the last decade has led to an abundant supply of cheap natural gas, which is part of the reason the coal industry has tanked.