MIDDLE GROUND JUST AN INDUSTRY FANTASY

The most popular political destination of the oil industry must be somewhere called Environmental Middle Ground. Phrases like that keep popping up in conversations involving industry managers. "There must be some Environmental Middle Ground," they say. "We've got to find the Middle Ground." Bad news: Except in wishful imaginations, no Middle Ground exists. The industry can best help itself and the environment by dispensing with the fantasy and struggling with hard facts, which are

Feb. 2, 1993

3 min read

Bad news: Except in wishful imaginations, no Middle Ground exists. The industry can best help itself and the environment by dispensing with the fantasy and struggling with hard facts, which are difficult enough.

RECORD NOT PERFECT

One fact is that the oil industry does not have an unblemished environmental record. Another fact is that moralistic, politically potent environmentalism has relegated the oil industry to a Low Ground position inconsistent with the environmental record, blemished as it is. Any move toward Middle Ground requires indulgence for Low Ground occupants and moral compromise-seldom forthcoming-from those On High.

Where is the Middle Ground in the U.S. Clean Air Act amendments, in Superfund, in leasing of federal land? Where is the Middle Ground in European Commission proposals for stiff taxes on the carbon content of fuels, even environmentally scorned noncarbon fuels such as nuclear energy?

The oil industry must forget about the Middle Ground and get tough with its two most troubling facts.

First, it must continue to improve its environmental record. Mistakes hurt everyone. When two tankers in a single month run aground and spill crude in Europe, motorists from Dusseldorf to Milwaukee wince over pictures of oiled birds, blame themselves for consuming gasoline, and aim their frustration at producers and refiners. Distinctions between the oil and shipping industries don't matter. In environmental politics, the problem is oil. And in environmental politics, the economic benefits of oil benefits that translate into environmental advantages when efficiencies and technological progress are taken into account - matter no more than industry distinctions do.

Only performance can improve an environmental record that is not all that bad, blemishes and all, given the enormity and nature of the business. Without expecting political compensation, the industry should press environmental initiatives such as the Marine Spill Response Corp. and American Petroleum Institute's multifaceted program, Strategies for Today's Environmental Partnership. Companies should seek more opportunities for voluntary clean-up and accept nothing less than spotless operation in the future. And the entire industry, from exploration through product marketing, should lead efforts to reduce shipping blunders Like those of last month.

STEP UP THE FIGHT

Regarding the second troubling fact, assignment to the moral Low Ground in environmentalism, industry simply must forget righteousness and step up the fight. It can win issues when it acts early, grounds its arguments in scientific facts and technical reality, and refuses to surrender. The U.S. industry won the first round in the fight over oil field waste regulation by conducting its own tests, looking over regulators' shoulders, producing hard evidence to support its case, and never backing down. It can win again on that issue and others. The key is to remain alert, respond to threats with hard science before laws and regulations are in print, and never compromise with foolishness.

From where the oil industry sits in modem politics, the Middle Ground is nowhere, and the High Ground is popularly beyond reach. The industry, therefore, must fall back on impeccable performance and a shameless zeal for environmental reason.