John Felmy makes a point: Some nomenclature gets in the way of winning favor in D.C. and among Americans. The chief economist for the American Petroleum Institute addressed Oil Council meeting attendees in late October in New York on Washington's view of U.S. energy.
"Unfortunately, we as an industry—and we're a lot of engineers—don't spend as much time as we probably should on naming things."
For example, "unconventional resources" is geoscience terminology based on the permeability and porosity of the formation.
"In Washington, using 'unconventional' gives some of our opponents a wonderful opportunity," Felmy says. "The thinking is that, if it's unconventional, you probably shouldn't use it. Let's start thinking about some other terminology."
Here are some suggestions from Oil and Gas Investor for a more PC energy lexicon.
Unconventional resources: alternative energy; useful alternative energy. Sample suggestion of usage among legislators: Americans need unconventional resources, an alternative to imported energy and more useful than solar and wind.
Felmy says, "One of the silliest statements that is made over and over again in Washington is that we need solar, wind and geothermal to reduce our use of oil. It makes absolutely no sense. We don't use oil to generate electricity."
Natural gas: economy candy; national security. My constituents don't have to ship so many dollars overseas for oil anymore; we have economy candy. Also, America is rich in national-security resources.
Climate-change legislation: poverty-maker. America must stop global warming, no matter its fruitless cost.
Felmy says, "If you're going to move forward with a climate policy, there have to be three broad criteria. It has to not pick winners or losers; it should reduce emissions as cost effectively as possible; and it shouldn't destroy the economy. The Waxman-Markey bill failed on all three."
Climate change: global food source. Global warming has made food plentiful and inexpensive for millions of Americans.
Leighton Steward, the former chairman and chief executive of Louisiana Land & Exploration Co., and author of Fire, Ice and Paradise about CO2, says in a recent Oil and Gas Investor article, "If the world's population is going to 9 billion, we can't feed them all...CO2 has a dramatic (positive) impact on plant growth…."
A couple more:
Deepwater-drilling moratorium: $5 pump prices in 2012; Democratic White House re-election kryptonite. Also see Sisyphus. The deepwater-drilling moratorium will help to guarantee that this administration is never able to make the same mistake again.
At a pro-drilling rally this summer in Lafayette, Louisiana, former Shell Oil Co. president John Hofmeister said, "In 2012, when the pump price is $5, Mr. President, your administration and all of your dreams are toast."
American oil and gas drilling: weapons of mass defense; 9 million American jobs; 7.5% of U.S. GDP. The more American oil and gas drilling that is done, the more jobs, wealth and national security voters have.
Meanwhile, one of the biggest challenges in industry right now is explaining "hydraulic fracturing." Felmy says, "Hydraulic fracturing has been around for 60 years and used in a million wells. All of a sudden we have an attack on it. We have to do an effective job of explaining it and how we do it."
Industry members' Marcellus Shale Coalition president Katie Klaber told Hart Energy Publishing's Developing Unconventional Gas—East attendees in early November that public understanding of hydraulic fracturing remains elusive in Appalachia.
"You hear it used to define the whole process—site preparation, drilling….This term has taken on a life of its own and, unfortunately, a negative one."
Here's a suggestion:
Hydraulic fracturing: Hydropower. Water breaks rock; rock covers Appalachia; Appalachia cuts American energy dependence and costs; voters re-elect us; we like water.
Felmy concludes, "If you say something three times in Washington, it becomes a fact."
Economy candy, economy candy, economy candy.
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