The Well Educated Journalist - An Oxymoron?

It is good to know that journalists are well educated. At a lunchtime event at Chatham House today titled Opening Up the Arctic: Prospects, Paradoxes and Geopolitical Implications one of the audience who identified herself as a Reuters employee asked of the Shell representative who was on the panel whether there were any economic circumstances that would make Shell decide against exploiting oil and gas lying beneath the Arctic. Instead of responding by saying what an idiotic question and why should anyone imagine any business would do something unless there was an anticipation of profit to be made, Mr Blaauw politely answered that Shell was in it for the return they believed they would make on the enormous sums they are going to spend exploring in this most inhospitable region. There was a representative from Greenpeace there who did not so much ask a question but go on and on making some propaganda point which left one with the impression that they abhor any exploitation of the planet's natural resources and thus want us all to go back to a subsistence existence. The Ambassador from Sweden was also on the panel as well as a Chatham House research fellow on energy, environment and resources and the panel was chaired by Roger Harrabin, an environmental analyst from the BBC (who I think is not liked by many sceptics). The Ambassador spoke about climate change and none of the other panellists objected when  the Ambassador referred to the huge adverse effect CO2 emissions have had on the Arctic. Mr Blaauw did though dare to say that there were areas of the Arctic (the Barents Sea) where the summer ice was greater than 12 years ago even if there was less in other areas. Climate change could also open up sea lanes and perhaps even the North West Passage. The North East Passage has had 36 boats using it this summer instead of just the 10 last year so global warming (if it is happening - Piers Corbyn of Weather Action thinks we are approaching a mini ice age) which could make it easier to explore for oil and gas. Mention was made as well by one of the panellists of the Arctic ice cap disappearing altogether in the next thirty years but this is refuted in many quarters and no doubt by Piers Corbyn. The fact is the world is getting more populous and we need more energy. Wind farms are useless and this fact will be eventually accepted and wind farms will be pulled down. No doubt there will be other forms of renewable energy which will be found to be both affordable and plentiful but in the meantime oil and gas are needed and the oil companies will look at places they have not previously properly explored but where the economics make sense. The risk is that they do not find fields big enough to justify the huge cost of exploration in a tough environment like the Arctic. In the meantime we will have to rely on things like shale gas of which there is thankfully plenty here in the UK.

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