September 13, 2011 06:49 PM UTC

Amid Spills and Concerns, O&G Industry Seeks 'Hipness'

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• by: ClubTwitty

(“Yes, Smithers. We’ve got to become ‘hipper!'” – promoted by Colorado Pols)

Amid growing concerns around oil and gas drilling that has ‘gone mainstream,’ the Colorado Oil and Gas Association is urging industry to make itself ‘hipper,’ according to Natural Gas Watch.

The shale gas industry has had its collective ass kicked, and kicked hard, by Gasland and others opposed to hydraulic fracturing and needs to redefine its core messages to defuse a burgeoning negative public perception of the controversial drilling technique, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA) said today.

…Today, she explained, those opposed to hydraulic fracturing can no longer be characterized as environmental extremists because the movement has gone mainstream.

As a result, Conoly-Schuller continued, the industry needs to change not only its messaging, but how it delivers its key talking points.

…”The issue is serious, but we shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously. We need to become much more clever. Our industry is going to have to become hipper.”

Sadly,  Talisman Terry the Friendly Frackosaurus has become extinct, so new outreach to the kiddies will have to be developed. As Connoly-Schuller noted:

…”People that like South Park are our audience,” she said, “and we need to figure out how to talk to them. We need to figure out what works and how to get it out to them.”

The lack of a friendly (or obnoxious) cartoon spokesperson is not the only wet blanket on the public’s embrace of our future as an energy colony.  Growing concerns come even despite various ‘environmental’ awards bestowed on industry.  Apparently the regular occurrence of spills and mishaps still make the more persuasive case in the minds of many gaspatch denizens.  

And while it was likely mostly in the industry’s mind that concern in the gaspatch has, until recently, only been the province of ‘environmental extremists,’ it is indeed the case that as activity spreads so does community concern.  Even to El Paso County, according to the Gazette:

There has been nothing specific to the industry in the El  Paso County land development code since 1990, said Craig Dossey, a county project manager. Energy companies that want to do exploratory drilling must apply for a temporary use permit, which involves county staff approval but is not brought before commissioners.

…A flurry of mineral rights leasing, though, prompted two oil and gas summits last month and the discussion of amending codes and setting fees for operators.

Mary Talbott, one of a handful of residents who addressed the commissioners Thursday, urged the board to adopt stringent regulations.

“Establish a set of rules for the county that incorporate maximum protections for the residents and the environment, while enabling drilling to proceed,” she said. “There are 45,000 wells in Colorado, and only 15 inspectors at the state level. There were 17,000 inspections done in the past year. Let’s include county inspectors to what the state does.”

Indeed, COGA’s own polling has identified this trend, according to Natural Gas Watch:

…Conoly-Schuller told the executives that COGA had recently completed some polling around the issue of how the public perceives hydraulic fracturing and the shale gas industry.

The news, she said, was not good.

“The public is skeptical of anything we say,” she said. “The favorable perception of the oil and gas industry polls at seven percent – that’s lower than Congress. The public does not believe us. We need someone else delivering our message for us.”

So while industry thinks hard about which cartoon and other spokescritters can better sell its message, helping to address the core issues at hand appears less of a priority, according to 9News:

A gas industry group says it is willing to help compile data on the effects of drilling on Garfield County’s air quality.

The proposal by the Western Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association follows the cancellation of a planned air quality study by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

…”Our membership supports filling the data gaps identified in the application related to air quality,” said association director David Ludlam.

Ludlam emphasized a study would “just collect the data,” not interpret it.

This proposal comes after industry successfully killed a Health Impact Assessment for Garfield County, the 9News piece continues:

In May, county commissioners terminated a draft Health Impact Assessment prepared by the school. They said it had become subject to an endless stream of commentary and objections.

Ludlam said “there was an unspoken uncomfortability” among drillers toward the school’s work because it “focused on interpreting data for its public health implications.”

So while COGA acts to actively thwart good science locally, the American Petroleum Institute was instrumental in the successful lobbying campaign to postpone science-based smog standards nationally.

It may be that industry has a PR problem. But rather than clever gimmicks and cutesy propaganda, perhaps the better strategy would be to address the root cause: oil and gas development is an industrial activity that brings with it many impacts. Its time for industry to pay attention to those and leave the cartoons to Comedy Central.