POLICY
Energy Reality 101 By: Bill Keffer
A
nother school year has begun, and there is a new appreciation among teachers and students for the (once taken for granted) simple opportunity of being able to meet in person in a classroom. I can detect a palpable level of enthusiasm among my law-school students that comes from a realization that it was different last year. Already in my eighth year as a law-school professor, I have taught enough students over that time to be able to observe that students in my Oil and Gas Law I course are typically uninformed, not only about the role and importance of oil and gas in our past and present economy but about energy in general; an unfortunate condition I describe as energy illiteracy. Even students who better understand the subject are often surprised at some of the information I provide regarding the seemingly countless benefits we enjoy — and rely on — because of oil and gas. To be honest, were it not for my current position as a professor, it is quite likely that I would not even be aware of some of what I now intentionally make sure my students hear. So, I suppose it should not be surprising that most Americans are likely in the same condition of energy illiteracy. It is the natural consequence of a wealthy nation. We enjoy the end product of someone else’s labor and pay little to no attention to how it came to be. Unless it is something in which we are actively involved that gives us a reason to be more informed, the product or service we enjoy (or, more likely, demand) is simply one more thing that comes from the “magic store.” We pay little mind to the many steps of creation, production, and manufacturing that made it available and affordable to us. Before we dive into principles of oil-and-gas law, I spend the first couple of classes providing some background, history and orientation regarding the significant role that oil and gas have played, and continue to play, in our modern-day economy. Because my students have heard nothing but the negatives of oil and gas and the positives of other energy sources throughout their academic lives, it is hard for them not to be conditioned to believe that further dependence on oil and gas is an albatross to be shed of immediately, if not sooner. But then, I tell them what they have never heard before. The U.S. currently gets 80% of its energy (electricity, fuel, etc.) from fossil fuels — oil, gas, and coal.
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SHALE MAGAZINE SEPT/OCT 2021
