Speaking of Coal Power: With Chaos Comes Opportunity
Combat veterans use the phrase "fog of war" to explain why carefully prepared battle plans are quickly overwhelmed by chaos once the first bullet is fired. Survivors often describe experiences that are markedly different from those of others standing only yards away.
The fog of our industry’s battle to build new generating plants permeates the utility business. Here’s a good example.
Black & Veatch recently completed a survey of nearly 400 utility industry executives’ views on global warming. Fifty-three percent of the respondents manage investor-owned utilities; 36% manage municipal utilities. Nearly 82% of respondents said they believe that global warming is indeed occurring, but less than 45% think human activities are responsible for it. These percentages are sharply at odds with findings in the latest report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, issued last year. It concluded that human activities are "very likely" the cause of the observed warming of Earth’s atmosphere over the past 50 years.
What’s more, the disconnect between personal belief and corporate practice is obvious. Nearly 48% of respondents said that their firm has publicly called climate change a man-made problem, while 86% report that — regardless of their company’s position on the reality and cause of climate change — it has taken steps to position itself as "environmentally conscious."
The results of the Black & Veatch survey seem in line with those of recent surveys of the public. Most Americans now believe that global warming is a problem, but there’s a wide range of opinions about the severity and timing of its consequences and about how much should be spent to solve it. Is this a time to take a safe, defensive position and just wait until the fog clears? Or should utilities take a forward position in the battle? The answer depends on whether you trust the American public to make informed decisions.
A Lot to Ask
Expecting the public to take action on an issue as complicated as climate change is unrealistic. The Psalms tell us that knowledge comes before wisdom. You can’t gain a good understanding of both sides of any issue by consuming 30-second sound bites and video snippets — they confuse, rather than educate.
For people to be roused to action, they must believe that their lives, and those of their children, will be worse if they don’t act. That’s where the disconnect between reality and perception begins. With an economic downturn looming, a government that thinks it can "buy" its way out of a recession by writing modest checks to taxpayers/voters, and electricity prices steadily increasing, setting priorities for action becomes all-important. The average Joe and Jane can only worry about a finite number of problems before succumbing to "battle fatigue," especially during an election season that won’t end until November.
Utility executives will, and should, discharge their fiduciary responsibility by putting their personal beliefs aside to do what is in the best interest of their shareholders and employees. But when those stakeholders don’t (or can’t) understand the issues, utility resource planning becomes vulnerable to vocal special interests.
Educate, Don’t Obfuscate
This is an opportune time for action-oriented utility executives to exert some leadership in our industry and beyond. I urge them to objectively summarize both sides of the debate on global warming, and to explain why it’s impossible to predict the timing and severity of its possible impact. But I also advise the executives to forcefully support coal-fired generation, the source of half of America’s electricity, and emphasize its importance to our future economic well-being.
Executives: Use words of one syllable if you must, but now is the time to bring some structure to the chaos. And while you’re at it, be honest about the immaturity of carbon capture and sequestration technologies and what implementing them at power plants will do to electricity bills. The time for hiding in foxholes is over.