Call us: 1.405.235.2305
info@i2E.org
  • Events
  • News
  • Resources
  • Library
  • Love’s Cup
i2Ei2Ei2Ei2E
  • About
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Venture Advisory Services
    • Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup
  • e3
  • Concept Fund
  • iMCI
  • Portfolio
  • Contact

Post-pandemic, weighing the climate ‘risk’ from energy use

    Home News Post-pandemic, weighing the climate ‘risk’ from energy use
    NextPrevious

    Post-pandemic, weighing the climate ‘risk’ from energy use

    By sarah | News | 0 comment | 30 August, 2020 | 0

    By Scott Meacham

    I don’t get to write that often about the energy industry; i2E’s charter is to expand Oklahoma’s entrepreneurial ventures in non-traditional sectors to diversify our state’s economy. But this week, benefitting from the sage perspective of C. Michael Ming, the original general manager of General Electric’s Global Research O&G Technology Center in Oklahoma City, I am doubling down on a second discussion of “after the pandemic, then what” for the oil and gas industry.

    “There are a number of great transitions going on,” Ming said. “There is a tidal wave of transition socially. Demographics have shifted; Baby Boomers are in the minority. There is also radical energy abundance of all types. Worldwide oil demand had been projected to peak in the early 2030’s. The pandemic has accelerated these transitions and more.”

    Over his career, Ming has designed wells, drilled fields, and served as Secretary of Energy in Governor Fallin’s administration. He is an adjunct professor at OU, as well as a national leader in energy research and policy. And he spends a lot of time mentoring Millennials.

    “I am often told that I have a different perspective,” Ming said. “When someone talks about climate change, people flock to their corners. Instead, I talk about climate risk. We are putting roughly 35 billion tons per year of a proven greenhouse gas into the atmosphere; to think that isn’t a risk is really naïve. My question is, given that risk, what is the affordable insurance policy you would be willing to take out?”

    Pre- or post-pandemic, that is a challenging question for Baby Boomer executives who came up in the seventies with gas lines and the threat of embargoes.

    “In scarcity, the producers have all the power,” Ming said. “In abundance, consumers have all the power. Now that we are in abundance, the mindset, skill set, and power base are all different. The skill set of the senior executives in oil and gas might not be the right fit. The next generation is under forty-five. They often don’t really agree with their senior management teams. They don’t say so in public, but they do in chat rooms.”

    Understandably, Millennials are focused on the next fifty to seventy years of sustainability for themselves and their children.

    Post-pandemic, Ming envisions a generational opportunity for the oil and gas industry to join Millennials in finding a solution to providing more energy with less carbon emissions—whether through carbon capture, production efficiencies, a revenue-neutral carbon tax, liquified natural gas, or some other energy innovation.

    “If you are a legacy Boomer oil executive, and you are convinced you are right,” Ming said, “you have to recognize that the world has moved on. You must learn how to operate in this new environment. If you aren’t listening to your Millennials, you may end up in the losers bracket. If you listen to the Millennials, you have a better chance for the winners bracket.”

    And if you are a Millennial, Ming says, who really wants to reduce the risk of climate risk through deep decarbonization, you must work with the industry with the attributes to affordably solve the big problems. He recommends a webcast from the University of Oklahoma Energy Institute, featuring energy policy thought leader, Tisha Shuller advocating for “shared ambitions.” To access it, search for “The Future of Energy, Tisha Schuller” on YouTube.

    “There is no magic silver bullet and no money tree,” said Ming, “but markets are powerful things. There is a tremendous opportunity for oil and gas businesses to acknowledge a generational transition and to listen to Millennials and the rest of society. Don’t be tone deaf to social change going on. Acknowledge climate risk and find those ‘shared ambitions’ to get a seat at the table and be relevant.”

    It is a different perspective, viewing the pandemic and overlapping social change as an opportunity for traditional energy industries to earn back public support by helping reduce climate risk. Different and inspiring.

    Scott Meacham is president and CEO of i2E Inc., a nonprofit corporation that mentors many of the state’s technology-based startup companies. i2E receives state appropriations from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology. Contact Meacham at i2E_Comments@i2E.org.

    climate risk, GE Global Research Center, Michael Ming, Scott Meacham

    Related Posts

    • State embraces collaborative culture with Oklahoma Innovation Model

      By sarah | Comments are Closed

      By Scott Meacham We are in difficult times — and when times are difficult, individuals, business, and even entire states have to do things differently. Think back to what was happening in Oklahoma in theRead more

    • Tracking would-be entrepreneur ‘leavers’ who abandon their dream

      By sarah | Comments are Closed

        By Scott Meacham Everything in life is cyclical. As terrible as 2020 has been for so many, the human spirit is amazing. Over the last month, as people have begun receiving vaccines that wereRead more

    • Putting the disruption of 2020 to work

      By sarah | Comments are Closed

      By Scott Meacham Happy New Year! I don’t know if I have ever been so happy to end one year and begin the next. Times remain challenging, but in just the last few weeks, weRead more

    • 2020: Something good emerging out of the bad

      By sarah | Comments are Closed

      By Scott Meacham When I was a boy, I learned from my grandparents that when something bad t happened, that something good would come out of it. I have been thinking about that lesson overRead more

    • Love’s Cup impact on Oklahoma entrepreneur community deep — and wide

      By sarah | 0 comment

      By Scott Meacham When the world is running along in normal ways at normal speeds, we tend not to think as much about connections between disconnected things. For me lately, in the third quarter ofRead more

    Leave a Comment

    Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    NextPrevious
    i2E-300dpi-Trans-Light
    • Events
    • News
    • Resources
    • Library
    • Love’s Cup

    Oklahoma City Office

    840 Research Parkway, Suite 250
    OKC, OK 73104
    PHONE 405/235-2305
    Click HERE for printable map with directions.

    Tulsa Office

    618 E. Third Street, Suite 1
    Tulsa, OK 74120
    PHONE 918/582-5592
    Click HERE for printable map with directions.
    Copyright 2021 i2E, Inc. | All Rights Reserved
    • About i2E
    • Services
    • Investments
    • Development
      • Love’s Cup
        • Forms
        • High Growth
        • Small Business
        • Timeline
    • Portfolio 3
    • Contact
    i2E