A Practical Solution for Energy
Today’s New York Times magazine has an article on Jim Rogers and green energy. Not Jim Rogers the commodity investor, but Jim Rogers of Duke Energy. The article is a very worthwhile read. Value investors aren’t known to be the most visionary people, we tend to pick our spots and stick with them. Usually, when I read articles on green energy, I’m not very enthused. The latest solar companies and ethanol companies are often fueled by untested technologies that lack the financial viability needed to be a solution for our energy problem. The article though is interesting:
When asked why Rogers ended up taking such a contrary approach to his job, friends point to the fact that he never trained as an engineer — the background of most energy executives. He isn’t as insular, Sharp points out, so he’s interested in what critics have to say. “Usually what people do is circle the wagons,” Sharp says, “but he listens.”
Rogers comes from a public advocate and legal background, I think it’s one thing that lets him see the problems we face from a different perspective than the rest of the industry. Sometimes, when faced with complex problems that seem unsolvable, they can be solved from going contrarian or bucking the usual trend. So maybe Rogers has some promise.
Allegations like these perturb Rogers no end. Many protesters, he told me, are an “eco elite” who don’t understand the need working-class people have for affordable energy. But then, in another breath, he admits he also understands why they view him askance.
“There’s an interesting contradiction in my position,” he said. “I’ve struggled with it. On the one hand, I want to smooth out the transition for the customers, because we’ve got low prices. But on the other hand, and this is sort of the awkwardness of it, the other truth is as prices go up, people’s behavior is modified.” Change needs to come, but how fast?
“That’s the art in this, and not the science.”
A Green Coal Baron? (New York Times)
These dilemmas: keeping in mind the working class, the speed of our change, and the degree of transition will all shape our energy policy.
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