Every day, I receive hundreds of emails. If you are anything like me, you will scan your inbox, look for ones that you can simply delete and then focus on what is important. The other day there was an action alert from RDC asking me to get involved in an important resource development issue. I opened it and chose to spend some time that evening writing comments on an issue being reviewed by a federal agency. You would be surprised how many people, including those who make their living in resource industries, simply choose to push delete.
A few days later I was standing in the line at the grocery store and I overheard a conversation on a mining issue in the state. The two people behind me in line were expressing strong opinions, but both were expressing views based on facts that were simply wrong. Instead of speaking up, I chose to keep my mouth shut, buy my groceries and hope that someone else would share the truth with them.
Every day we are confronted with choices about whether to get involved or let opportunities pass us by. When we choose the former, we are saying we want to be part of the solution. When we chose the latter, we are saying that we are expecting someone else will get involved and that somehow we will turn the tide against those who oppose responsible resource development in our state and country. The problem is that too many of us are sitting on the bench instead of getting in the game.
According to a poll done a few years ago by the Opinion Research Corporation, over 58 percent of Americans have no idea what fuel is used to power their electricity. Everyone knows it comes from the plug or switch on the wall, but less than half of us understand the complex network of generation, transmission and distribution facilities that are required to get it to the wall.
The amount of effort and investment required to make electricity is mind-boggling. First you need to extract a fuel source and convert that fuel into electrical power. This can be done through a drill bit, a mine, a dam, a windmill or other process. That electricity then needs to find its way from the power plant to communities and then it needs to be distributed to individual homes and businesses. None of those steps are possible without the development of resources. Fuel extraction, power generation, power transmission and power distribution all require resources like steel, copper, concrete, diamonds, and wood to name only a few. Each of these resources need to be mined, grown, extracted or produced.
It’s not just electricity.
The Opinion Research Corporation poll also revealed that only 32 percent of Americans could name the source of their drinking water. I suspect if you were to ask questions about the source of: the gasoline for their cars; the gold for their jewelry; the seafood on their plates; the natural gas or heating oil for their homes; the chemicals and copper for their batteries; and, the wood used to make their homes, you’d get the same type of response.
Our friends and neighbors are becoming increasingly disconnected from the truth about resource development. We love our gadgets and conveniences, but either don’t know or take for granted what it takes for us to have them. That’s why we should not be surprised when people decide to oppose the responsible development of Alaska’s resources. It’s easy to stand against something when you don’t understand what it means to you.
It is our responsibility to help Alaskans and Americans understand that the lifestyle we all enjoy is because of resource development. Ask the people in the Washington D.C. region about how much their lives revolve around electricity. Until the storms, most people didn’t give it a second thought, but a few days in 100 degrees without air conditioning changed all of that. We need to seize opportunities like this to make sure our friends and neighbors understand that it all starts with resource development.
I am a big supporter of Alaska Resource Education and the National Energy Education Development Project because we need the next generation of Americans to make informed decisions about energy and resource development. However, it would be wrong to simply support them and believe our work is done. Let’s not write off the current generation. Let’s make our voices heard and share what we know to be true.
I have promised myself that the next time someone asks me to get involved or I hear a conversation about resource development at the grocery store, I am going to speak up. Will you do the same?
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