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New Oil & Gas Talent Needed: Students, Retirees Take Note (industry needs freed renewable-energy talent too)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 20, 2012

“It’s been my experience in 17 years of recruiting in the oil and gas industry [that] this is the ‘sweet spot,'” [Tim] Cook wrote in an email, referring to the 10- to 30-year range. “These are the individuals that companies are wanting to hire, and because of the downturn in the mid-’80s to mid-’90s, this is the missing generation in the oil and gas industry.”

Talent needed! Jobs available! Training required! Students: please major in petroleum engineering. Retirees, we need you back. University of Phoenix–start your oil and gas engines. Staffing professionals–help us please!

This is the good news, the great news, from the energy sector. And it is the reality that President Obama and public-policy makers at all government levels should understand–and heed.

First, some background. Environment & Energy News has a daily subscription service that a lot of us must read each workday: E&E Daily, Greenwire, E&E News PM, and ClimateWire.…

"Wind Farms Canceled, Layoffs Starting" (government dependence is risky business)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 18, 2012

The major federal tax and grant subsidies for windpower and other qualifying renewables are scheduled to expire at year-end. And claims of robust economics, competitiveness, and growth have given way to fear of a freer, less preferential market in 2013 and beyond. Wind’s artificial boom/upcoming bust is the risky business of political capitalism.

Last Friday’s edition of Environment & Energy Daily ran this story (sub. req.):

The American Wind Energy Association estimates that 10,000 jobs will be lost by September — primarily among manufacturers of wind turbines and components facing a dearth of orders for next year. By the end of the first quarter of 2013, the industry will have shed about 37,000 jobs without quick action on a PTC renewal, according to a widely cited study AWEA commissioned from Navigant Consulting.

Playing the Fool: Obama's Heather Zichal Goes Hydrocarbon

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 8, 2012

Greenwire (Energy & Environmental News) ran a piece (excerpted below) that further portrays Obama faking hydrocarbon affection during a tough election year where jobs are scarce and natural gas is a leading job creator.

The article profiles Heather Zichal, Obama’s deputy assistant for energy and climate change, who has just started the job of building bridges between the Administration and the natural gas industry.

With the Administration’s environmental allies throwing natural gas under the bus, and going all out to stop drilling where natural economics dictates, the industry has learned its lesson about coalescing with the enemy.

OR, let’s hope so. After all, the industry holds the high ground in that

  1. Energy is the master resource.
  2. Consumers want oil and gas (and coal), not inferior substitutes such as ethanol, (on-grid) solar, and wind.

Wind Wipe Out? (Worst feared at AWEA convention)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 6, 2012

Texas's Solyndra: Will CREZ Launch Cruz to the U.S. Senate? ($7 billion wind transmission project a defining intra-Republican issue)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 1, 2012

Professor Hicks's Business Ethics Course (Loyola Chicago's MBA class in for a real treat)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 24, 2012

American Products. American Power. (new website on petroleum's consumer bounty)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 22, 2012

'Offshore Oil Guide': Are You Ready for Some Real Free-market Jobs, Anyone Anywhere?

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 21, 2012

Real World Economics (key to understanding real-world energy)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 18, 2012

Expanding 'Depletable' Resources: Solving a Paradox

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 9, 2012