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World Energy Conference 2007

A Wish Come True...

Each day, the WEC publishes a newspaper of yesterday's meetings, presentations and what's on the agenda for today.  There are big ads from major energy suppliers and promotion for the WEC 2010 in Montreal.  I have always thought about putting an ad in the paper about GENI, as it is read by all the WEC delegates (energy ministers, utility executives, big enegineering firms) — but the cost is prohibitive.

So, I pick up the paper to get the news — and on page 7 is the headline "A wish from GENI"  My heart jumped, as it was the exact letter we had sent to all the E8 (biggest 8 utilities in the world) during the summer.  The editors had decided this letter had critical questions for all leaders of the industry from around the world.  We made a huge difference today, as these are the critical questions that can lead each nation towards a more sustainable energy path.  Click to read full text.

But, there are many in key leadership roles who do not agree, as evidenced by two other articles in the same paper.  One session on climate change was presented by the Aspen Institute Italia, where two delegates still refuted the science of climate change, arguing that it was just a natural cycle of the earth.  You have to remember that WEC members are coal, oil and gas producers first — so carbon is there lifeblood and bottom line.  It seemed a bit surreal, since Dr. Pachauri, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize laureate from the IPCC was also presenting the facts of climate change from 2000 scientists the next day.

Disinformation can come from many angles. The Chairman of the Italian energy giant ENI made the case that nuclear was Italy's only solution for the future that didn't involve imported fuels.  Yet Italy is blessed with enormous solar, geothermal, and hydro resource potential.  So, GENI's work is far from done — but it sure is nice to have a wish come true!

See you tommorrow

Peter

P.S. Visit GENI in Hall 4 Exhibit F32 if you'd like to stop by... We're on page one on this site plan, in the upper right corner tp://www.rome2007.it/Expo/Download/Floor_Plans.pdf.