Our curiosity was peaked at the lack of any actual Energy sources being sighted on this flyer and admittedly we assumed that they would be discussing a wide variety of new technologies which to any energy professional presents an exciting opportunity. However, from the events very first speaker Gov. Hickenlooper it became quickly apparent that this particular event was going to focus solely on one energy source and only once energy source. Natural Gas. Oh they did have speakers such as former US Secretary of State, George P. Schultz who made mention of his new electric powered car and the fact that he himself had solar panels on his home and he even brought an example of what the US Marine Corps had developed in the form of a new style of portable solar panels which he unfolded before the audience to show how easily it could be deployed but even the core of his monologue focused again on natural gas. We had posted numerous tweets during the course of this event trying to get at least one of the speakers to address some of the major concerns of natural gas fracking methods such as the numerous cases that have been exposed such as ground water tables being contaminated by the fracking fluids used in this process. Still more questions were posted regarding the irresponsible release of these methane gases directly into our atmosphere by personnel operating the gas compression stations but unfortunately all of these questions seemed to be getting ignored entirely as they continued on as though the attending internet audience wasn’t there at all.

They even brought in a Bank of America guru who ran through all of the numbers of profitability for global export of nature gases extracted in the US which they plan to send overseas for resale. Granted, natural gas is in fact far safer for our atmosphere than anything a coal powered power plant can manage and if it could be harvested safely without threatening our air and water I would have nothing negative to say about it at all. But facts are facts, and I am sure the people who live in towns like Pavillion, WY whose entire ground water table has been literally poisoned entirely by the very fluids used in fracking in and around their city would tell you differently. What struck me the most was when they started discussing the security of this energy source as they completely ignored any discussion of water or air contamination through their irresponsible extraction methods in that I had to wonder what is going to happen when water sources in populated areas where they are also fracking disappear. How secure is that energy source or virtually anything else going to be then? Without clean air and water, society as we know it will also no longer exist and I think it is safe to say you can throw out any idea that security at this point is really going to matter much.

So in conclusion I would have to say that this event which they charged $100 per ticket to attend was little more than one very elaborate marketing sales pitch for natural gas. There really was no forum in its true sense of the term that entertained any questions outside of the topic of natural gas and they certainly did not address any of the numerous questions regarding the issues with their extraction methods which to date have literally devastated entire communities as a result. A word to the organizers of this or any future events of this nature. The large majority of energy professionals are very interested in Energy Security, Sustainability and Carbon Reductions but next time you plan one of these shindigs and decide to call it a “Forum” you really should format the entire scheduled event to actually be a forum and not the sham I witnessed which was little more than a sales pitch designed to talk people into accepting it and all of its enormous technological flaws.

It is also a good way to think of our planets atmosphere and for as much CO2 as nations have been dumping into it and the corresponding reactions we are now witnessing around the world it is a safe guess that we are well into our planets twenty ninth day according to Lester Brown. Of the worlds visionaries, Lester Brown has been a leading author and environmentalist on many of what he envisions as being the worlds most pressing tipping points of food sources and governments globally. His insights have caused many of our worlds leaders to begin completely rethinking their economics, environments, food sources and population controls we all one day will greatly depend on for our global civilizations very survival. According to him our way of life and the business as usual mentality we have worldwide is no longer viably sustainable and every nation must begin making changes before time runs out and we can no longer reverse the effects that are already under way.

This globalization to save civilization is not a spectator sport, everyone must get involved and although there are a great many things that need to be done you can make a difference. Pick a part, get involved and we all can start by making sure our individual political systems have elected members who truly care about this issue and will make the necessary changes that we all need to have made. Below is the link for the full version of the premier of “Journey to Planet Earth” narrated by Matt Damon. Enjoy and please share!

Journey To Planet Earth – Plan B 3.0