Where Do We Go?

With food prices dramatically increasing, oil and gasoline prices at all time highs, coupled with the fact that atmospheric CO2 and Methane levels have significantly increased in 2007, the answer to that question has never been clearer.

Well thought out words delivered in emotional speeches will help, but only to keep awareness of Global Warming and Energy Independence, in the forefront.

The Mission does the one thing that will proactively address Global Warming and Energy Independence; It Takes Action Now.

The route is clear and the talking is over. It is time for action. We have to remember the past, work diligently in the present and take back our future.

Are You Ready To Lead?

Global Warming Energy Independence Mission Lets Lead By Example

Motivation Paints a Thousand Pictures

Tobacco and oil we have seen it before

We all have heard that a picture says a thousand words, but did you know that the motive behind some words, paints a thousand pictures? Oil companies are publicly saying one thing about Global Warming, but once you look deeper at those words, you get a stunning insight into their true position. These oil companies have great writers who have fully researched their words for effectiveness in pushing a certain message and giving the public a “we really care about you” feeling, but their private communications, lobbyists and stockholders, say something totally different.

Sometimes a company’s commercials or press releases have little to do with the message within the communication and more to do with their motives behind releasing them. The continual drive to make ever increasing profits is a double-edge sword that can hurt society as much, if not more, than it helps. To help clarify those statements, here is a glaring example of how an industry will say and do, almost anything to continue to make money.

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For decades, Tobacco companies knew their product was harmful to people and they kept saying that smoking tobacco posed no health risks. After the Federal Government got involved and sued them, we all found out how far an industry would go to continue to make money. They had to pay a huge fine, release their documents showing their decades of deception, post warning messages on their products, etc. Those Tobacco companies lost or did they?

Tobacco companies have some intelligent people running them and the legal defeat may have hurt them in the beginning, but they have rebounded nicely. We all now know for certain, that smoking cigarettes is a dangerously addictive, very unhealthy, potentially deadly activity, but Tobacco companies are thriving again.

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How can this be?

Nicotine is the ingredient in cigarettes that make them addictive. Without informing the public, the Tobacco companies for the last decade, have been increasing the amount nicotine in their cigarettes. This makes quitting that much harder and it gets first time users hooked quicker. And do not forget all of the continuing commercials Tobacco companies are running to help you quit smoking; they give you a feeling that the tobacco companies care and they want to help you stop smoking.

This can not emphasized enough; Tobacco companies are publicly traded on the stock market, so they have a legal, fiduciary responsibility to their stockholders. That means they have to continue to do everything possibly to make money or they can be sued by their stockholders. Think about it, why would they want to have the masses quit smoking; they would go out of business.

The oil companies are also publicly traded and now they are doing several of the same things the tobacco industry tried for decades, but in the case of tobacco, their product mainly, negatively affected smokers but with oil and gas, their greenhouse gas emissions negatively affect everyone, everywhere. Why would the oil companies want to find an alternative for oil? Wouldn't they go out of business if we no longer needed oil?

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To borrow a saying by United States President George W. Bush; Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice… you can’t be fooled again.

You may have noticed that this article focused only on oil companies and said nothing about coal companies; that was not an oversight. Coal companies, whose product releases even more greenhouse gases per unit than oil and gas has taken a different approach to the Global Warming issue. They are either ignoring it or saying little about it. It is sort of the Ostrich approach to a problem, just hide your head in the sand and you are safe. To Coal companies, take note, just because oil is used more than coal doesn't make your product less of a danger or an industry that’s products will be ignored.

Taking the oil companies, “fuzzy feeling” approach or coal companies “ostrich” approach, will not safeguard either industry. Those companies are assuming that people are apathetic, too busy to care, or not intelligent enough to see through their PR words. Are they correct?

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It's your Choice

Is it unfair to be focusing on the coal and oil companies with respect to Global Warming? After all, they are just companies who are making money off the products they sell. Do consumers have a right, to want the products that those companies sell to be safe when used?
Unbeknownst to millions, that have money in a mutual fund, pension fund, etc. more than likely, own shares of these oil companies. With ownership, comes responsibility.

 The future is in our own hands and the decisions we make today, will reverberate for days, years, and decades ahead.

We all have to work together and start to aggressively address Global Warming and Energy Independence, NOW.
Are you ready to Lead By Example?

References:
Energy Tomorrow Radio Episode September 19, 2007 The Distribution of Ownership of U.S. oil and natural gas companies energytomorrow.org

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