Columns and Letters

Letter: Changes in attitude

January 19, 2022

Dear Editor,
    Attitude is crucial to everything we accomplish or don’t accomplish in our lives no matter what our goals are – whether that is learning how to play a musical instrument or achieve a particular vocation. Our beliefs determine a great deal about our attitude so I invite you to think about the following – “As wonderful as science is, science cannot see nature from an Aboriginal lens. And the big difference there is that science sees nature as an object; the Aboriginal lens sees nature as a subject. Because it’s through the language, it teaches you that everything is alive, physically and spiritually.” – Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall.
    Our attitude towards our planet has changed enormously in this last century. We have gone from taking our weather and climate for granted to being very concerned to say the least. One issue that came to the foreground was when scientists discovered the ozone layer that protected humanity from harmful solar rays was being depleted by our use of harmful chemicals. World leaders came together in 1997 and signed what is now known as the “Montreal Protocol” which banned the use of those harmful chemicals almost world wide. This was a huge success.
    Oil and gas corporations have known for a long time that their industry is responsible for about two thirds of the world’s CO2 emissions so in 2014, 12 of the largest oil and gas corporations came together in order to deal with this issue in a positive way. They realized our energy system had to change to a net zero emissions system which meant there would have to be substantial policy shifts and changes in behaviour. The CEOs of Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) realized the scale of the change was massive but that the change was absolutely necessary. Once the leaders of these companies acknowledged what had to be done and shared their new found vision is when they began to see themselves as “energy” companies. Fairness, a shortage of energy and economic dislocation in a very limited amount of time were all core issues that needed to be addressed.
    Using the Paris agreement targets as their guiding landmarks, they proclaimed to meet those targets so profound changes began to unfold within these companies. This was a huge shift in mind set from being a defensive industry to becoming a pro-active one. Equipment, technology and energy used to extract and bring the product to market had to change which meant everyone in the company would be impacted. They focussed on how they used their “voice” to motivate their employees to be much more transparent and focus on the solutions – eliminating the methane leaks and developing other fuels like hydrogen and biofuels.
    Developing and investing in offshore wind farms is now part of their repertoire with one project in the North Sea that will power 4.5 million homes in the U.K. Supporting and actively encouraging the development of electric vehicles and investing in renewables has been one of their mission statements that spokesperson Bjorn Otto Sverdrup and others are committed to for the long term.
    This change of attitude is what we desperately need to happen with every industry and every company. The attitude to look within a company asking “What can we do to improve or change what we are doing in the best interest of every living being on the planet?” is one that all of us should/could be asking ourselves as well.
    Paul Strome
    Antigonish

 

 


 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 


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