Energy Issues

Get in the game

After more than a year’s absence, I am back in the column-writing game. My thanks to World Oil for making it possible. There is another game I am in, and I want to get you in it too. It’s called the “giving back” game. It’s rewarding and it’s not hard to play. But, first, a bit of background.

You cannot have missed the beating our industry is taking in these economically demanding times, and in fact has taken for the 40-plus years I have been involved in this industry. High oil prices are everyone’s whipping boy, and “Big Oil” is the globe’s villain. We are the prime targets of the press, politicians and most of the public. No matter that our industry has never sold a drop of anything that someone did not want, or need, to purchase. Never mind that our entire economic and social fabric is built, primarily, on abundant and relatively inexpensive fossil fuels. The sad fact is that we have not made a dent in these misperceptions. Many will argue that we have not tried hard enough. That may be. But there is also good indication that our efforts have been aimed at the wrong people.

A while back, I addressed a meeting of the Pioneer Oil Producers Society (POPS), a group of seasoned, mostly retired, upstream professionals. I spent some time discussing the need for enhanced public education campaigns. At the end of my talk, a senior POPS member allowed as how this had all been said before and the educational messages delivered to the public had fallen on deaf ears. He was, for the most part, right. It is not that we haven’t tried; it is that we haven’t tried with the right group.

Who is the right group? Kids, plain and simple. A major study undertaken a while back by my good friend Franklin Boitier at Total indicated strongly that, by 14–15 years of age, most people have adopted perceptions that are difficult, if not impossible, to alter. On the other hand, kids under 10 years of age generally lack the contextual capability to readily accept and integrate dialog about issues as complicated as energy options. That leaves us a very narrow target audience in which to shape public perception—narrow but not impossible, as a number of promising programs are demonstrating.

SPE education program. The Energy Information Committee within the Society of Petroleum Engineers has worked with SPE staff to create an energy education program aimed directly at the 10–18-year-old target group. Its efforts include energy curricula for grades 1 through 12, a website designed specifically for children and educators (energy4me.org), a book about energy options aimed at students and translated into six languages, and a number of other ongoing initiatives such as public school presentations. At the regional and local level, most SPE sections have energy education programs that support in-school presentations by SPE members utilizing teaching aids created by the society.

NEED. The National Energy Education Development program is a non-profit project that educates both students at the right age levels and their teachers. As stated on its website, “The mission of the NEED Project is to promote an energy conscious and educated society by creating effective networks of students, educators, business, government and community leaders to design and deliver objective, multi-sided energy education programs. NEED works with energy companies, agencies and organizations to bring balanced energy programs to the nation’s schools with a focus on strong teacher professional development, timely and balanced curriculum materials, signature program capabilities and turn-key program management.” The group regularly conducts student and teacher workshops across the US that honestly review energy options, their costs and their impact. Check the organization out at need.org.

IPAA Academies. Under the leadership of Doris Richardson, the Independent Petroleum Association of America has created academies at four high schools in Texas. The academies accept sophomore students into an intensive energy- and science-based curriculum designed not only to educate students about energy, but also to guide those same students to careers in the oil and gas industry. Entry and performance standards are tough, but students graduate with the equivalent of a junior college degree in oil and gas technology. Nearly the entire first class of academy graduates, from Milby High School in Houston, accepted university offers to pursue oil- and gas-related engineering or geosciences degrees. You will find useful information on the academies at ipaa.org/education/index.php.

A little digging will lead you to other outreach programs targeting the 10–18 age range in your area. For instance, the Houston Museum of Natural Science has recently launched a website aimed at students and teachers. Sponsored by Chevron, the online Energy Conservation Club (ecc.hmns.org) explores all energy options honestly. In addition, the museum’s Wiess Energy Hall, the largest oil and gas museum exhibit in the world, regularly hosts large numbers of student tours led by volunteer docents. The Offshore Energy Center in Houston (oceanstaroec.com) also has an education program, complete with a large, portable energy education display that travels from school to school and a series of classroom learning activities.

The list goes on and on. These efforts are mirrored worldwide. The key is that they exist and target the right audience. More importantly, their success is based on volunteers like you and me. That is the game I would like to see you in. You can help make the difference. Give it a try, please.

WILLIAM.PIKE@IB.NETL.DOE.GOV / Bill Pike has 43 years’ experience in the upstream oil and gas industry and serves as Chairman of the World Oil Editorial Advisory Board. He is currently a consultant with IBM, and works under contract in the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), a division of the US Department of Energy. His role includes analyzing and supporting NETL’s numerous R&D projects in upstream and carbon sequestration technologies.