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GLOBAL FORUM
work through the current cycle of ignorance, denial and anger towards natural gas.
Doug Parr It seems to me that you are saying we can live with a more than two degree temperature rise and that the revenues from shale gas are going to make that OK. I think the flaw with that is that you don’t address how the politics are going to work. If the poor and marginalized in developing countries are going to benefit from the revenues from shale gas, then you have got to establish a mechanism. You are advocating the short-term benefits of gas, but also advocating a set of political changes that are frankly unachievable in order to deliver the benefits. Regarding coal, I completely agree that coal is the enemy but eliminating coal requires different approaches in different places.
Nick Grealy This is a global situation, a global problem and natural gas will provide a global solution. Renewables and natural gas can and will exist together for a long time. The savings that we can get from natural gas in the short-term can be used for research and development for the technologies that are going to work in the future. I am a great believer in enhanced solar but we have got to solve energy storage. Once we solve energy storage, then it is the end of carbon. “American Gasland”. Grant Wood’s original painting titled, “American Gothic”, depicted traditional rural USA in past times. “American Gasland” cautions that the future of rural USA in threatened by the gas industry’s “rush to frack”. Image made by River Side, courtesy of Marcellus Outreach Butler.
l The above is an abridged and edited transcript of the 2degrees debate/webinar, “Is fracking the answer to the energy crisis?” held on 27 September 2012. 2degrees is a business community for driving growth, efficiency and profit through sustainability.
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