the ever curious PR guy

Latest Gallup opinion polls on energy and environment, not very good analysis

via www.gallup.com

Gallup recently released latest US public opinion trends on energy production and supply, preference for renewables, and views on conservation and the environment, HERE.

I found Gallup's "bottom line" summary interesting:

As the [Obama] administration weighs its options, one policy Obama could champion without fear of much public resistance is developing alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power. From the high level of support Americans show for that option, it appears that it simultaneously satisfies their demand for energy and addresses their concerns about energy independence, while being sensitive to environmental concerns. [Emphasis mine]

 

It you want people to be "satisfied" about an outcome, you can only do it by actually delivering the outcome so that people can experience the results and benefits. Being that it will take decades for solar and wind power to actually play a significant role in the energy mix (and probably will never in our lifetime be the only sources of energy), is Gallup really serious in their advice to President Obama? Wouldn't this approach create unrealistic expectations on energy and thus contribute to people's growing apathy toward the government's ability to tackle energy and climate change policy?

 

Think of energy advocacy as a traffic intersection

It's a real busy intersection, with a lot of traffic going on.

And this is not your typical 4-way intersection either. There are quite a number of lanes coming together at the intersection, probably the largest "spaghetti bowl" interchange you've ever seen.

There is the environmental lane. An ideology and politics lane. The gee whiz clean tech lane. A lane for the incumbent oil and gas companies, big and small (although each group would probably like to have its own lane). There's the "silver bullet" lane for the latest single technology or energy source that is supposed to fix all our problems. We are rubbernecking at the gas prices lane. And there are so many other lanes. I am forgetting the government lane, which is probably a 6-lane, 2-way road itself.

The funny thing is that most lanes don't pay attention to the others. They have blinders on and keep on moving as if they are the only ones on the road, the only ones that matter.

And, you could say there are no traffic light signals at the intersection to help control traffic. So you see a lot of unnecessary collisions. Although there are some passerby's who are entertained by seeing some of these crashes. 

We need all the lanes. Each one has a valid point of view, or a good reason to believe what it believes or do what it does. Each lane has a contribution to make in order to make the energy system happen, and happen in a sustainable way.

But we need some traffic lights. Leaders from many different walks of life to serve as conveners and advocates for collaboration and consensus, for moving forward with solutions.

 

Daniel Yergin’s “The Prize” is required reading for understanding energy challenges and dilemmas, desperately needs new epilogue

 

Phew. I finally finished reading Daniel Yergin’s The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power. All 800+ pages. Just in time as I continue to work with Yergin's CERAWeek to feature a couple of Shell leaders in the program.

Although the title has always bugged me, suggesting the book may be one of many “oil is evil” dramas, the book is an excellent history of the oil industry and its unforeseen yet inevitable interconnections with economics, geopolitics, society, industrial growth, science and technology, and plain old human psychology. What started in the 1850’s as a business opportunity to find an improved alternative source for lamp illumination (whale oil was becoming scarce and coal was too smoky), the effort created one of the first global industries and produced a commodity that became a key driver of economic success. And, as with all things valuable, oil and everything around it has been driven by the best and worst of our human nature.

All of the questions today around oil, energy, alternatives to oil and the environment are not new at all. As one finds in The Prize, all of the current questions and challenges have played out again and again since the beginning. And it is much easier to make sense of these questions when you understand where they come from and how they have been dealt with (or avoided) from the beginning. The story of oil, the competition for it, and the struggle to find alternatives to oil that bring us a sense of security (we still need our products to be made or transportation to be available) or address environmental concerns is rich with amazing stories of creativity, innovation, ingenuity, ambition, and ultimately war.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in smart conversation around energy and the future. My only request is that Dan Yergin pretty please update the book with an epilogue post 2008. Will the environmental concerns now make themselves a more central character of the story and bring hydrocarbon man to his knees? Probably not soon, but they may in the future...and the story continues...

 

Great idea from Enviu on engaging mobile phone users for sustainability ideas and solutions

Check out Enviu's Our Mobile Generation for a great approach on engaging mobile phone users on ways to leverage mobile phones for sustainable use.