Chair-Elect Corner
A Delegate's Job
Don Clarke
The price of oil has topped $50 per barrel. Storms have pounded the Gulf of Mexico and reduced the amount of oil available to refineries in the gulf. The California refineries are dealing with excess oil brought in from South America. There is a war going on in Iraq. Russia is on the verge of a Putin takeover. The carnage in the Sudan is unthinkable.
So how does this impact the House of Delegates?
Simply the world is in turmoil and events can be caused by nature or by man. But the people of the world can work together to mitigate these actions. The AAPG House of Delegates is a place where people can get together and work together. Delegates are activists. We all share similar goals of finding more energy and not harming the environment. Though organized to be a legislative body for the AAPG, the House of Delegates has provided us with a place to get to know each other and work together. The members of the House represent the world and as such the philosophies and ideals of each participant are shared. With that sharing comes understanding. With understanding we will be able to build a better world together.
Throughout this year and next I ask each delegate to bring your ideas and feelings forward so that we can work on them. AAPG is there to provide scientific and professional support. Politics will always exist but energy needs are truly international and our knowledge and experience is best placed when shared internationally. Some ideas may help in the way AAPG does business, others may help to improve communication, but the biggest value is in getting together and talking things out.
Part of your job as a delegate is to share our profession with the public. As I said earlier being a delegate makes you an activist, but I hope that it also makes you a proponent of the energy industry. It is my opinion that our industry has done a poor job of educating the public as to what we do. The oil industry has taken some bad hits because they did not always act responsibly. You will always hear that the companies…”are working for the stockholders.” That is not an excuse for not operating in a safe and environmentally conscious manner.
I ask each of you to share your knowledge of our industry with your neighbors, your schoolteachers and your local leaders. Please be accurate and truthful. You will loose credibility if caught pushing oil industry propaganda.
Try to put your comments into a greater perspective. This is the most difficult part. We have a great industry that has provided tremendous value to the world. The public does have trouble dealing with the big numbers used in our industry.
Answer questions directly. If you can't answer the questions, tell the questioner that you will get back to them. Then come to AAPG for help.
Lee Gerhard chairs the Outreach Committee. He can be reached at leeg@sunflower.com. Executive Director Rick Fritz can also be contacted at rfritz@aapg.org. The AAPG Communications Director is Larry Nation . He can be reached at lnation@aapg.org.
AAPG has numerous slides available to download that can be used in presentations. The Web site is www.aapg.org/slide_bank/index.cfm.
We have an outstanding story, be proud of it and go tell it.