Released August 27, 2021 | SUGAR LAND
en
Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Oil & Gas industry received an unusually direct piece of advice on August 24 about how it should position itself in the evolving discussion over ESG (environment, social and governance).
"We need to broaden the dialogue around ESG and focus on the data," asserted Chris Wright, chairman and chief executive at Liberty Oilfield Services Incorporated (NYSE:LBRT) (Denver, Colorado). "We have let a small group of activists, professors and investors design a narrative that's wrong and that hurts us. It's wrong, it's BS, and it's a losing strategy. We need to stand up and push back."
"There is no climate crisis," Wright asserted at the 33rd annual The Energy Summit, sponsored by the Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA) (Denver). He and other panelists at the event cited a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that showed climate-related deaths over the last decade were down dramatically from a century ago.
"I recognize how wildly unpopular my views are," Wright continued. "The energy dialogue is getting divorced from reality, and massive investments are being made based on misinformation."
His company recently published its first ESG report, titled Bettering People's Lives, and he pointed to the estimated 2 billion people around the world, one-third of the Earth's population, that still cook their food using wood or dung. "Why aren't we talking about how energy will solve the problems of living faced by those 2 billion people?" he asked the COGA audience rhetorically.
The Liberty executive said one of the challenges the Oil & Gas industry faces is "how do we market energy to a feel-good public. Our society places feelings first, then data. But our challenge is not about feeling good, it's about doing good, particularly when we're making big investments."
Wright said Yale University economist William Northaus, often called the father of climate change economics, analyzed the costs and benefits of fully complying with the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. Wright told the COGA audience that Nordhaus estimated it would cost the world's economies about $125 trillion over the next century to implement all of the actions agreed to in that agreement.
"We're trying to drive change that betters human lives, not check a box," he continued.
Wright's efforts to counter the dominant narrative about ESG were echoed, to one degree or another, by other panelists at the COGA event August 24. James Reddinger, a finance professional and president and chief executive of Stabilis Solutions Incorporated (NASDAQ:SLNG) (Houston, Texas), said the current ESG narrative "was pushing the 'E' at the expense of reliability and cost-effectiveness. Cleaner and greener is better, but it has to be cost-effective, reliable and predictable."
Reddinger told the audience: "We need to make market-based solutions based on data, not feelings. Otherwise, we'll run out of money. Societies and markets collapse over time when there's massive investment based on feelings, not data, reliability and cost effectiveness."
Alanna Fishman, managing director for strategic communications at FTI Consulting (Washington, D.C.), said the current situation offers Oil & Gas companies "an opportunity to inform the debate. The industry has been doing 80% of ESG, but it hasn't talked about it. Take what you have done and talk to investors--you need to get credit for what you're already doing. Data is critical--companies need to give data to investors and stick by your story."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.
"We need to broaden the dialogue around ESG and focus on the data," asserted Chris Wright, chairman and chief executive at Liberty Oilfield Services Incorporated (NYSE:LBRT) (Denver, Colorado). "We have let a small group of activists, professors and investors design a narrative that's wrong and that hurts us. It's wrong, it's BS, and it's a losing strategy. We need to stand up and push back."
"There is no climate crisis," Wright asserted at the 33rd annual The Energy Summit, sponsored by the Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA) (Denver). He and other panelists at the event cited a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that showed climate-related deaths over the last decade were down dramatically from a century ago.
"I recognize how wildly unpopular my views are," Wright continued. "The energy dialogue is getting divorced from reality, and massive investments are being made based on misinformation."
His company recently published its first ESG report, titled Bettering People's Lives, and he pointed to the estimated 2 billion people around the world, one-third of the Earth's population, that still cook their food using wood or dung. "Why aren't we talking about how energy will solve the problems of living faced by those 2 billion people?" he asked the COGA audience rhetorically.
The Liberty executive said one of the challenges the Oil & Gas industry faces is "how do we market energy to a feel-good public. Our society places feelings first, then data. But our challenge is not about feeling good, it's about doing good, particularly when we're making big investments."
Wright said Yale University economist William Northaus, often called the father of climate change economics, analyzed the costs and benefits of fully complying with the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. Wright told the COGA audience that Nordhaus estimated it would cost the world's economies about $125 trillion over the next century to implement all of the actions agreed to in that agreement.
"We're trying to drive change that betters human lives, not check a box," he continued.
Wright's efforts to counter the dominant narrative about ESG were echoed, to one degree or another, by other panelists at the COGA event August 24. James Reddinger, a finance professional and president and chief executive of Stabilis Solutions Incorporated (NASDAQ:SLNG) (Houston, Texas), said the current ESG narrative "was pushing the 'E' at the expense of reliability and cost-effectiveness. Cleaner and greener is better, but it has to be cost-effective, reliable and predictable."
Reddinger told the audience: "We need to make market-based solutions based on data, not feelings. Otherwise, we'll run out of money. Societies and markets collapse over time when there's massive investment based on feelings, not data, reliability and cost effectiveness."
Alanna Fishman, managing director for strategic communications at FTI Consulting (Washington, D.C.), said the current situation offers Oil & Gas companies "an opportunity to inform the debate. The industry has been doing 80% of ESG, but it hasn't talked about it. Take what you have done and talk to investors--you need to get credit for what you're already doing. Data is critical--companies need to give data to investors and stick by your story."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.
