Knowledge Problem

Are You a “Hydrocarbon Denier”?

Michael Giberson

From the Houston Chronicle‘s coverage of CERAWeek:

… later in the day, ConocoPhillips’ [CEO James] Mulva drew applause from the crowd when he blasted “hydrocarbon deniers” for questioning the potential of natural gas to meet future U.S. energy needs.

In an interview afterward, he said he wasn’t necessarily calling out the administration.

“It can be current and past administrations. It can be Congress. It can be states,” he said, anyone with “unintended, ill-informed opinions” about the industry.

Whatever the case, he said, the result is the same: an unrealistic call for the world to move quickly away from fossil fuels “when we know that oil and gas and coal, there’s not going to be an alternative to them for decades to come.”

Anyone with “unintended, ill-informed opinions” about the industry? Could be a pretty big group.