ConocoPhillips Holds Energy Conversation

This evening I continued the October Tour of green meetings and attended an energy forum hosted by ConocoPhillips at the Omni Hotel in New Haven. Part of ConocoPhillips’ 35 city EnergyConversations Tour, the program featured a panel of noted experts in all maters related to energy here in Connecticut and beyond. While it was very noble concept, I walked away thinking that the conversation wasn’t that compelling and I was somewhat disappointed with the types of ideas raised by the public during the conversation.
The panel included representatives from academia, business and government and after opening remarks by each of the panel members, the public then began to ask energy related questions of the panel and I have to admit, I found most of the questions to be somewhat mundane and not very thought provoking. For instance, the first question asked was, does global warming/ climate change exist? Big question and a legitimate one but I really think that the goal was to have a discussion regarding energy policy and possible solutions to lowering the cost of energy. It’s not whether climate change or global warming exists. I leave that question to the government of China. Other questions could easily be answered with a Google search and some questions, typical of these types of events, were very pointed and tried to hold ConocoPhillips’ feet to the fire.
Don’t get me wrong, there were some good question – one related to the possible development of tidal wave energy along the sound and in Connecticut rivers and one related to the need for better energy awareness and education for consumers. All and all, I commend ConocoPhillips for promoting the idea that discussions need to take place so that more of the public can gain knowledge and we move closer to implementing real solutions. I just wish the conversation had been a bit more lively, dynamic and engaging. The attendees missed a great opportunity. Then again, maybe I’m too close to this stuff and need to attend more public forums to become a little more grounded in reality. Sorry for the cliché but it fits.