The meeting began in the Kill Devil Room shortly after noon, with a reminder from Pres. Bubb that “it is so amazing that we’re the club with the camp for kids, which is the oldest longest running largest Rotary project in the world.” After we recited the Pledge to the Flag, Pres. Elect Tom Davis brought forth an invocation. After guests were recognized and greeted, we noted the following club anniversaries: Phil Kinney 43 years; Paul Flucke 8 years; Tim Tholen 11 years; and Alan Warne 23 years.
Pres. B. then did what he said would be an occasional part of coming meetings, a vocational minute – an opportunity for a Rotarian to tell us a bit about their work. First up was new member, Kristy Bayer, who talked about her work as the Director of Athletics at Rockhurst University. Very interesting.
TYROs were our greeters. Announcements included a reminder about the Rotary After Hours event on 8/17 with a tour of the Rock Island Bridge followed by food and drinks in the Stockyard District; and a Thank You! to the volunteers who helped with the recent Westside CAN Center Back to School Pep Rally.
P.P. Tony A. introduced our speaker for the day, Edward Gross, who is the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association, whose topic was “State of the Oil and Gas Industry: Challenges and Opportunities.”
Some of his remarks touched on sensitive political issues and matters of substantial national debate, so rather than trying to summarize his points (and risk misrepresenting his views), I will just provide a few quotes from my recording of his presentation.
“I want to thank for the opportunity to share my thoughts on America's energy picture today.”
“Most Americans see the rise in gasoline prices to be a direct result of the Biden administration's commitment to end the production of fossil fuels last year. In the name of climate change, the federal government did much to impede American oil and gas production. They block pipelines, delayed exports, canceled, lease sales and slow permits. Yet global emissions of carbon dioxide reach an all time high. That being 36.3 giga funds, the world is showing no stomach for the dramatic reductions in the use of oil and gas and the rising prices and demand forecast. The problem really is population since 1960, while the concentration of CO2 in the air has increased from 310 to 410 parts per million, the world population has increased in 3 billion to 8 billion, 5 billion.”
“Here's the core problem. Demand for fossil fuels is increasing. And the current concentration of CO2 in the air is approaching 420 parts per million. Many experts will say you need to reduce that to 350 parts per million to avoid disruptive climate change. So how do we do that? Now? What condemns the current plan is the intergovernmental panel’s report on climate changes that acknowledges that even if the world stopped all industrial greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow, there would be no noticeable drop in temperature for 30 years. So the question is will 8 billion people deprive themselves for the next 30 years to achieve net zero, as in the ICC report? They most likely will not.”
“The most pressing issues facing our economy in the foreseeable future are not those arising for climate change or energy transition. Rather, the factors to watch are inflation, rising energy costs, national security threats, and by an administration that is too focused on climate change to anticipate or deter these significant real threats.”
“In closing, I just want say the oil and gas industry shares an energy future vision with the public who care as much about the environment as anybody and the concerns of all the people about the environment. We take these issues and concerns, seriously. So our mission is to empower people improve lives and inspire success. So that I'd say thank you if we have time for questions.”
Returning now to this scribe’s words: That concludes my quotes from my recording of Mr. Gross’s presentation. If you would like to have access to all of his remarks, I recommend that you watch the Club’s recording of the meeting that is available on the Club’s Facebook site. Also, I would be happy to send you a copy of the transcription of my recording if you are interested.
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