Industry's Default Reliance on 'Maginot Line' Defense Is Failing

摘要

David Blackman, director of government relations at Linn Energy, didn't mince words at the recent Nape 2015 business conference in Houston. In the fight to win the hearts and minds of the public, the energy industry is losing ground because of a "Maginot Line" mentality. The Maginot Line was a series of fortifications built along the German and Italian borders by France in the years leading up to World War II to deter aggression by Nazi Germany. Today, it's akin to the industry barricades thrown up to defend natural gas pipeline projects or hydraulic fracturing. "Maginot Line refers to a tactic that people thought would be effective, but turned out to be anything but," Blackman said. "And that is basically the line of thought being used by the energy industry — relying on simple tactics to respond to its critics and not an overall strategic way of thinking."