The energy industry is facing one of the largest challenges in the world&rsquo;s history - how to meet the needs of a growing global population clamoring for resources necessary to fuel lives. It should be all-hands-on-deck when it comes to developing conventional, alternative and renewable energy, and the world needs to accept that hydrocarbons are necessary for energy advancement. In order to supply the world with energy for the foreseeable future. People in the industry, and in the world, need to change their attitudes. <strong><br /><br />A global shift towards support and understanding must take place. </strong><br /><br />While visiting my family in their gorgeous lake town with live music and plenty to do besides work, I was suspiciously eyeballed by one of my sister&rsquo;s friends as she waxed on about the evils of the energy industry - big business and people with &ldquo;screwed up priorities.&rdquo; She apparently hates hydrocarbon and wasn&rsquo;t a fan of much else relating to energy. Alternative wasn&rsquo;t alternative enough, green wasn&rsquo;t green enough, progress wasn&rsquo;t progressive enough and it should all be scrapped. The angst was palpable, and her energy solutions weren&rsquo;t forthcoming. A perfect reflection, I thought, of the world at large. <br /><br /> To gain any kind of success with today&rsquo;s energy challenges, energy providers should rally together and work toward understanding and sharing best practices. What has the hydrocarbon marketplace taught us about the environment, about safety and about owning up to-and correcting-mistakes? What can we learn from nuclear, from solar or from coal for that matter? As individuals, we should also try to understand global business before attacking it. Here&rsquo;s a question for starters-difficult business, resource taxing business, business that challenges the brightest minds-shouldn&rsquo;t this be profitable?<br /><br /><strong>Factions of the energy industry must stop demonizing each other and work together. </strong><br /><br />We need hydrocarbons, solar energy and, of course, nuclear energy. Windmills make my heart leap, and while I can&rsquo;t quite wrap my mind around the &ldquo;goodness&rdquo; of ethanol, perhaps, someday, to our advantage, we can make this work too. We should spend less time bashing other energy sources and more time capturing the lessons that we have learned in our own businesses. Between &ldquo;the great crew change&rdquo; and the world&rsquo;s continued dependence on energy, we&rsquo;ll need this information. Surprise surprise, much of it is transferrable across the sector. Lessons on processing, infrastructure development, efficiency and, dare I say it, international resource management are much more valuable than pondering the moral implications of for example, liquid natural gas from the outside looking in.<br /><br /><strong> Hydrocarbons are necessary for energy advancement. Accept it. It is a good industry, so it is a good thing.</strong><br /><br />Currently, and in the foreseeable future, we&rsquo;ll continue to rely on hydrocarbons to meet a large portion of our energy needs. This isn&rsquo;t a &ldquo;big oil&rdquo; conspiracy. It is simply reality. Why? Many alternative energy resources developed aren&rsquo;t affordable or fully viable, from a technological perspective. Do we have enough feedstock for biofuels? When will nano-technology make solar live up to our imaginations? As we continue to innovate in order to create the processes and infrastructure for new forms of energy, these high energy endeavors in their own right will be fueled, for the most part, by hydrocarbons. If everyone focuses on the task at hand, the innovations will deliver. In the meantime, hydrocarbons are buying the world the time it needs to figure out where fuel will come from fifty years from now. Hopefully, the world will be an even better place. <br /><br /><strong>Stop talking about what you are against, and be pro-people. </strong><br /><br />According to the International Energy Agency, approximately one quarter of the world&rsquo;s population does not have access to electricity. Wouldn&rsquo;t it be nice if this remaining group were given the tools to see in the dark, for example? Individually, some people need more energy and some, especially in the United States, could use a bit less. However, to grow the overall standard of living for all global citizens, we need it all. This includes continually innovating to deliver alternative energy resources while, at the same time, working hard and creatively to find and produce hydrocarbons despite the increasing challenges that this presents. Don&rsquo;t be against big oil; be for big technology. Don&rsquo;t be against big profit be for big incentives. Don&rsquo;t be against big alternatives be for big solutions. Create your own energy policy and make it pro-people. <br /><br />Here is a quick outline: <br /><br />Spend your time figuring out how you can personally use less energy <br /><br />Support the work of people that are trying to find and deliver more energy<br /><br />It&rsquo;s a workable balance; one that we need now. Don&rsquo;t believe me? Tonight, when you are at home, take out a sheet of paper and a pen. Now turn out the lights. It&rsquo;s rather difficult to design a better windmill in the dark, isn&rsquo;t it?

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The energy industry is facing one of the largest challenges in the world&rsquo;s history - how to meet the needs of a growing global population clamoring for resources necessary to fuel lives. It should be all-hands-on-deck when it comes to developing conventional, alternative and renewable energy.&nbsp; The world needs to accept that hydrocarbons are necessary for energy advancement, and big oil is <em>not</em> evil. In order to supply the world with energy for the foreseeable future, people in the industry, and the world, need to change their attitudes. <strong><br /><br />A global shift towards support and understanding must take place. </strong><br /><br />While visiting my family in their gorgeous lake town with live music and plenty to do besides work, I was suspiciously eyeballed by one of my sister&rsquo;s friends as she waxed on about the evils of the energy industry - big business and people with &ldquo;screwed up priorities.&rdquo; She apparently hates hydrocarbon and wasn&rsquo;t a fan of much else relating to energy. Alternative wasn&rsquo;t alternative enough, green wasn&rsquo;t green enough, progress wasn&rsquo;t progressive enough and it should all be scrapped. The angst was palpable, and her energy solutions weren&rsquo;t forthcoming. A perfect reflection, I thought, of the world at large. <br /><br /> To gain any kind of success with today&rsquo;s energy challenges, energy providers should rally together and work toward understanding and sharing best practices. What has the hydrocarbon marketplace taught us about the environment, about safety and about owning up to-and correcting-mistakes? What can we learn from nuclear, from solar or from coal for that matter? As individuals, we should also try to understand global business before attacking it. Here&rsquo;s a question for starters-difficult business, resource taxing business, business that challenges the brightest minds-shouldn&rsquo;t this be profitable?<br /><br /><strong>Factions of the energy industry must stop demonizing each other and work together. </strong><br /><br />We need hydrocarbons, solar energy and, of course, nuclear energy. Windmills make my heart leap, and while I can&rsquo;t quite wrap my mind around the &ldquo;goodness&rdquo; of ethanol, perhaps, someday, to our advantage, we can make this work too. We should spend less time bashing other energy sources and more time capturing the lessons that we have learned in our own businesses. Between &ldquo;the great crew change&rdquo; and the world&rsquo;s continued dependence on energy, we&rsquo;ll need this information. Surprise surprise, much of it is transferrable across the sector. Lessons on processing, infrastructure development, efficiency and, dare I say it, international resource management are much more valuable than pondering the moral implications of for example, liquid natural gas from the outside looking in.<br /><br /><strong> Hydrocarbons are necessary for energy advancement. Accept it. It is a good industry, so it is a good thing.</strong><br /><br />Currently, and in the foreseeable future, we&rsquo;ll continue to rely on hydrocarbons to meet a large portion of our energy needs. This isn&rsquo;t a &ldquo;big oil&rdquo; conspiracy. It is simply reality. Why? Many alternative energy resources developed aren&rsquo;t affordable or fully viable, from a technological perspective. Do we have enough feedstock for biofuels? When will nano-technology make solar live up to our imaginations? As we continue to innovate in order to create the processes and infrastructure for new forms of energy, these high energy endeavors in their own right will be fueled, for the most part, by hydrocarbons. If everyone focuses on the task at hand, the innovations will deliver. In the meantime, hydrocarbons are buying the world the time it needs to figure out where fuel will come from fifty years from now. Hopefully, the world will be an even better place. <br /><br /><strong>Stop talking about what you are against, and be pro-people. </strong><br /><br />According to the International Energy Agency, approximately one quarter of the world&rsquo;s population does not have access to electricity. Wouldn&rsquo;t it be nice if this remaining group were given the tools to see in the dark, for example? Individually, some people need more energy and some, especially in the United States, could use a bit less. However, to grow the overall standard of living for all global citizens, we need it all. This includes continually innovating to deliver alternative energy resources while, at the same time, working hard and creatively to find and produce hydrocarbons despite the increasing challenges that this presents. Don&rsquo;t be against big oil; be for big technology. Don&rsquo;t be against big profit be for big incentives. Don&rsquo;t be against big alternatives be for big solutions. Create your own energy policy and make it pro-people. <br /><br />Here is a quick outline: <br /><br />Spend your time figuring out how you can personally use less energy <br /><br />Support the work of people that are trying to find and deliver more energy<br /><br />It&rsquo;s a workable balance; one that we need now. Don&rsquo;t believe me? Tonight, when you are at home, take out a sheet of paper and a pen. Now turn out the lights. It&rsquo;s rather difficult to design a better windmill in the dark, isn&rsquo;t it?