{"id":4965,"date":"2013-09-10T14:16:04","date_gmt":"2013-09-10T14:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=4965"},"modified":"2013-09-10T17:12:32","modified_gmt":"2013-09-10T17:12:32","slug":"energy-issues-arent-black-and-white-and-neither-is-edfs-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2013\/09\/10\/energy-issues-arent-black-and-white-and-neither-is-edfs-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy Issues Aren\u2019t Black And White, And Neither Is EDF\u2019s Approach"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019ve seen many energy issues expand and contract in the years I\u2019ve been with EDF since 1988. \u00a0Our organization has celebrated and participated in many victories regarding climate change, including landmark legislation that put limits for the first time on California\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions<\/a>, the elimination of eight out of 11 new coal plants<\/a> in Texas as part of the utility TXU\u2019s buyout and federal standards for controlling air pollution from unconventional gas activities<\/a>. \u00a0At the same time, we\u2019ve seen clean energy sources both praised and attacked<\/a>.<\/p>\n

No issue, however, has been as thorny as natural gas<\/a>. \u00a0We used to think if we just switched from coal or oil to natural gas, we could be certain that the climate change scenario would improve dramatically. \u00a0But with lingering uncertainty around just how much methane, a very potent greenhouse, is being emitted and is leaking out across the natural gas system, we are still weighing the amount of climate benefit of its use.<\/p>\n

When you don\u2019t know something that you want to know, you turn to experts who either have the knowledge or can acquire the knowledge by asking the right questions. \u00a0So, as head of EDF\u2019s US Climate and Energy Program, I\u2019ve assembled a team whose judgment I trust to find answers to the question that defines our gas work: How can we minimize the risks associated with operations and maximize the inherent climate benefit of natural gas?<\/p>\n

Over the years, I\u2019ve worked with many commendable professionals on energy issues. \u00a0Tapping the best and brightest for our natural gas team means finding those professionals who have worked in all aspects of the energy arena. \u00a0That encompasses those within industry, at the state or federal regulatory levels, or whoever understands the issues, the people and the detailed processes.<\/p>\n

Like any other team at EDF, our natural gas team is made up of seasoned environmental lawyers, former regulators and policy leaders, technically astute scientists and engineers. \u00a0Dealing with unconventional shale plays has meant making some unconventional hires at EDF, including several people who have years of experience working for the oil and gas industry. \u00a0But what better way to distill the most salient points of an issue than go to those who know exactly how to drill down (pun intended) into them by way of experience.<\/p>\n

EDF\u2019s hallmark is finding market-based solutions to challenging environmental problems using the facts. \u00a0For our natural gas work, this has meant looking at the effects of rapid development squarely \u2013 not for where we want it to be, but for where it is<\/a> \u2013 and focusing our efforts to have the most impact on those dealing with the repercussions of poor industry practices.<\/p>\n

These dedicated professionals likely could make a higher salary at other venues, but choose to leave industry to work for EDF because it\u2019s where they know they can make a significant, positive difference<\/a>. \u00a0I\u2019m inspired by their dedication and knowledge daily, and I\u2019m confident in the ability of this team to ensure that the time spent on this important issue is not lost while we continue to push for greater adoption of and reliance on \u201csmart power<\/a>\u201d sources like energy efficiency and renewables.<\/p>\n

This is one of a group of posts about <\/em>why industry experts work at EDF.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve seen many energy issues expand and contract in the years I\u2019ve been with EDF since 1988. \u00a0Our organization has celebrated and participated in many victories regarding climate change, including landmark legislation that put limits for the first time on California\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions, the elimination of eight out of 11 new coal plants in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[693],"tags":[53000],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-4965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-natural-gas","tag-industry-experts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEnergy Issues Aren\u2019t Black And White, And Neither Is EDF\u2019s Approach - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2013\/09\/10\/energy-issues-arent-black-and-white-and-neither-is-edfs-approach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Energy Issues Aren\u2019t Black And White, And Neither Is EDF\u2019s Approach - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019ve seen many energy issues expand and contract in the years I\u2019ve been with EDF since 1988. \u00a0Our organization has celebrated and participated in many victories regarding climate change, including landmark legislation that put limits for the first time on California\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions, the elimination of eight out of 11 new coal plants in ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2013\/09\/10\/energy-issues-arent-black-and-white-and-neither-is-edfs-approach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-09-10T14:16:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-09-10T17:12:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2013\/07\/Jim-Marston-Photo1-214x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim Marston\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JimMarston\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim Marston\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/10\\\/energy-issues-arent-black-and-white-and-neither-is-edfs-approach\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/10\\\/energy-issues-arent-black-and-white-and-neither-is-edfs-approach\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim Marston\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7d88fede15d2d3e5a52362920ba70473\"},\"headline\":\"Energy Issues Aren\u2019t Black And White, And Neither Is EDF\u2019s Approach\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-10T14:16:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-09-10T17:12:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/10\\\/energy-issues-arent-black-and-white-and-neither-is-edfs-approach\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":566,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/10\\\/energy-issues-arent-black-and-white-and-neither-is-edfs-approach\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2013\\\/07\\\/Jim-Marston-Photo1-214x300.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Industry Experts\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Natural Gas\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/10\\\/energy-issues-arent-black-and-white-and-neither-is-edfs-approach\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/10\\\/energy-issues-arent-black-and-white-and-neither-is-edfs-approach\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/10\\\/energy-issues-arent-black-and-white-and-neither-is-edfs-approach\\\/\",\"name\":\"Energy Issues Aren\u2019t Black And White, And Neither Is EDF\u2019s Approach - 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