The Moment: Walk and Chew Gum, But Don’t Run
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I’m writing my next book about The Moment and exploring the forces shaping it in this summer’s Both True editions. Few recognize The Moment for what it is: the most important opening of our lifetimes to lead into the energy future. Join me!
Whenever geopolitical pressures appear poised to slow action on climate, we start to hear a lot about the need for oil and gas to “walk and chew gum at the same time,” as Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm put it not too long ago.
Translation: Our companies are expected to both (1) take concrete actions to decarbonize their operations and (2) increase production, prioritize secure supply chains, adjust suppliers, and do whatever else it takes to meet national priorities. Contradictory, right? Not really. Welcome to The Moment.
Recent actions from the Biden administration highlight why the current geopolitical environment is one of the forces creating The Moment—and therefore also creating an opportunity to have more nuanced and practical conversations with our key stakeholders about the energy transition.
In recent Both Trues I’ve introduced the forces shaping The Moment; the conviction, grit, and resilience our industry needs to seize this opportunity and what happens when net-zero aspirations meet net-zero reality.
Today: geopolitics as a force. Yes, we can walk and chew gum. And our stakeholders are about to figure out that keeping us out of the conversation about the energy future will mean a far dimmer energy future. As the complexities become plain, we cannot run toward immediate decarbonization.
Both of these things are true:
The situation
Geopolitics will drive The Moment in a number of ways. Here are some of the most salient:
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Similar to the other two forces we’ve covered, projected power demand for AI and the challenges of net-zero implementation, the geopolitics force contributes to The Moment for three reasons:
Seize the day
Stepping into The Moment begins now, even as we observe and understand the shaping forces. Here’s what you can be doing now to prepare your team for the opportunities ahead:
Catalogue the forces relevant to your operations. Where are the forces overlapping with your stakeholders’ interests? In what way you can begin to game-plan solutions? Create a regular, internal framework for exploring the forces and the ways your company will step in.
Seize each opportunity to engage in The Moment. For every civic, political, or business leader faced with a new challenge of climate action (tariffs on Chinese goods!), there is a Moment for you to engage differently. Will you double down on old “I told you so” arguments, or will you open up a new dialogue where you are a change agent and solutions partner?
Thank you to Rebecca Keller Friedman for her research contributing to this piece. Do you want to get ahead of the forces shaping The Moment? We can prompt a conversation with your leadership! Reach out now for a fall engagement. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.
To walking purposefully—while enjoying gum!
Tisha
Energy Advocate | Sustainability Explorer | Policy Enthusiast | Writer | Researcher | Speaker
3moCanadian consumers and legislators, much like our US counterparts, are demanding the same of our hydrocarbon companies. However, making it more difficult to share information about environmental progress, last week, Canada passed amendments to the Competition Act with the intent to create obligations and consequences (upwards of $15mm or 3% of gross worldwide revenues in fines for companies) for misrepresenting environmental claims for their products or services (i.e. greenwashing). The unintended consequence has been that companies are skiddish about what to say and how to say it. Some have even removed content from the web. The complainant can file a complaint using a simple, easy-to-access online form with no burden of proof nor any direct harm, leaving it up to the defendant to prove their disclosure is truthful. It extendes to publicly disclosed net-zero 2050 targets and claiming a fuel (e.g. natural gas) is lower emissions than another fuel. Deceit in the form of greenwashing should be discouraged, but we have to be able to talk about the energy future, even if it's a little messy and full of uncertainties.