The editorial "Politics and fuel choice" hit a point with me as you noted, "Energy choices are best left to free markets, fully informed" (OGJ, Aug. 10, 2009, p. 18). Here our industry and society must come to grips with the definition of the "market" and what constitutes the concept of "fully informed."
The free market is not only those who directly participate with their own dollars but all of society, as everyone must consume energy. If we ignore or neglect this Man-on-the-Street, we do so at our own peril because it is this segment of the market that will dictate energy policy and all of its ramifications.
The real crux of the matter is who to get that market to be fully informed. Is having an informed, energy-literate consumer base even worthwhile? If that answer is yes, then the next question is, whose job is it to teach the public (market) about the role energy plays in their daily lives?
It is all well and good to see this statement in print once again. But what are we, the energy industry, going to do about it? We can all point to the literally hundreds of programs that foist themselves off as energy education. Indeed, our industry is the deep pockets funding a great deal of these efforts. In addition, the various trade associations that represent all forms of energy also put out some very good yet appropriately focused material about their specific btu. These programs are a great effort toward this goal. However, I do not think that any can say that "fully informed" has been achieved. Shouldn't we expect a real positive return for this investment in energy education?
There is no real coordinated effort at informing the public about just plain btus. We do a great job on our particular form of btus, but where is the fundamental information about energy? Society is missing the prerequisite course in Energy Literacy 101 that they need to have to fully appreciate Oil & Gas 212, Coal 240, Wind and Solar 310, Nuclear 431, or even Energy Policy 550.
Talk is cheap. Isn't now the time to walk the walk and take it upon ourselves to develop a truly "fully informed free market?" It is either that or let's admit that society will always need our product and we will be able to pass along any cost that we may incur so that energy choices and their prices really do not matter after all.
I don't dare to claim to have the solution. However, I am participating with an ad hoc group that we call The Public Energy Literacy Initiative that is trying to get our industry leaders to sit down and truly answer these questions. Who knows? If they did, we might see some better coordination and collaboration in existing programs and a real chance at having an informed, energy-literate market. (I might also finally realize that return on the money I invest in the stocks of these firms allocated to energy education.)
Thank you for opening the door to further discuss the issue of fully informed free markets.
John Tobin
The Energy Literacy Project Evergreen, Colo.
