Why do many of us feel constantly attacked for our roles, and why is our industry widely despised by those it serves? Ironically, the loudest opposition usually comes from groups simply promoting a different energy source. Isn’t it clear that our industry is evolving, as all industries do? Did the protests against nuclear power in the ‘80s fracture public opinion on energy and create a lasting platform for outcry?
There should be a name for that sinking feeling we experience when engaging in global warming and GHG discussions with industry outsiders. Maybe it’s because we know it’s only a matter of time until we’re somehow blamed for the problem. In my role, I realize the topic isn’t new. I recall Carl Sagan’s discussions from the ‘70s about the surprisingly high surface temperature of Venus, the beginning of the GHG debate, but somehow it was different then.
Regarding our planet, extrapolations of rising CO2 levels from the ‘70s to the present have proven to be remarkably accurate, along with the inevitable trend of increasing global temperatures that accompanied them. It is no longer possible to create a tenable argument denying anthropogenic climate change and it’s equally difficult to create a global solution to the problem. How do we supply energy to a growing global population desperate to increase its standard of living, or at least its GDP, without destroying the environment we depend on for life and without being chastised for suggesting one?
Understanding and being able to discuss climate change and energy is a new essential skill for any energy professional. We need to be able to describe the current situation quantitatively — from production to consumption — trends, technologies and economics. We can’t simply defend our segment of the industry while dismissing everything else as fiction. Nothing may be more destructive to our collective credibility than self-appointed experts denying climate change and dismissing any potential solutions.
I have asked many colleagues in the natural gas industry if they support burning coal, given its abundance and affordability, in order to remind them of their own sensitivity to carbon emissions and the evolution of the energy industry in which we’re all a part. The natural gas industry will undoubtedly be a large part of the global solution, one way or another, and our members need to be able to articulate the message responsibly and understandably.
Energy is expensive and sustainable energy is even more expensive. Energy from fossil fuels is almost free; it has been neatly packaged beneath the earth’s surface and we only need to open the package to access the energy. Compare that to the process of liberating hydrogen atoms from a water molecule, for example, and it is readily apparent why coal, oil and natural gas are so popular.
The same scientists and engineers who created the energy industry will undoubtedly forge the industry’s path forward. In so doing, the entire world enjoys a higher standard of living, and its prosperity is tied almost entirely to the availability of this energy. Once sustainable energy is achieved with certainty, in whatever form it eventually takes, mankind can move forward indefinitely into the future.
