Get in step on global warming, CEO urges

"We no longer have the luxury of standing on the sideline,"

Feb. 12, 2008

The oil and gas industry must embrace the reality of global warming and ensure it has a voice in setting policy or risk being marginalized while alienating the public, the CEO of ConocoPhillips told energy executives in Houston on Tuesday.

James Mulva, a keynote speaker at the annual Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference, said failure to engage would pave the way for policies that erode energy security and jeopardize economic and environmental health.

"We no longer have the luxury of standing on the sideline," Mulva said.

Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, followed Mulva at the podium and said he was glad to hear that "captains of industry" were on board with the need to address climate change. "I got the impression that what I have to say is redundant," he said. "It is within our means to mitigate greenhouse gases, and I'm delighted that the energy industry has actually said so and believes in it."

Last year, the international panel said new research showed warming was "unequivocal" and that human activity was primarily responsible for the biggest factor in temperature change, greenhouse gases.

The IPCC and Al Gore won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for raising awareness. More >>>

[The oil companies will perhaps discover the underlying paradigm and realize that they have to make the transition and become energy companies in order to survive. They need to make the switch and invest in alternative forms of energy production and supply. Editor]