Haynes and Boone's Newsroom
Paul Dickerson in Oil Daily article, "Climate Bill Blasted for Bias Toward Coal"
07/10/2009
Climate legislation passed by the US House of Representatives last month is coming under fire for providing a hefty amount of free emissions allowances and research dollars to the coal industry while offering little assistance to the natural gas business ...
Paul Dickerson, a former US Commerce Department official and an oil and gas attorney, said oil and gas producers could help the development of renewable energy resources because of their knowledge of geophysical conditions and the investments they have already made in renewables. Knowledge of offshore conditions acquired by hydrocarbon producers could help offshore wind developers, he said, while onshore producers may be well placed to help producers of geothermal energy.
Dickerson said such cross-industry co-operation could place alternative forms of energy on a firmer financial footing, allowing them to “avoid costly mistakes.”
“Punishing oil and gas companies without engaging them as partners in renewable energy is a mistake,” he said. “There are many areas
of potential collaboration. In Europe, for example, oil companies have already been partnered with renewable energy developers on offshore wind farms.”
Article excerpted from Oil Daily.