by Greg Kozera | Apr 24, 2016 | Blog
We have come a long way since the days of my youth in Pittsburgh. The air was foul and the creeks were orange with mine acid. Fish kills on the Allegheny River were common. Today the air is clean. The orange creek has fish in it and is a home for ducks. The steel mills are gone but fortunately some coal mines and power plants remain. They just don’t pollute like they once did. Although a lot has been done we still have more to do. It took leadership, creative thinking and technology to get us to this point. It took scientists and engineers and a pubic that had a basic knowledge of math and science. People even school children back then knew that their electricity came from a power plant that was powered by coal, nuclear power or hydro. I learned that in science class. I guess that isn’t taught any more. Today in a recent survey 52% of Americans said their electricity comes from the socket on the wall. I can’t count how many people have asked me why we need coal and natural gas when we have electricity. I know smart businessmen in Florida that thought their electricity came from wind and solar. When I asked how that works for them at night they were dumbfounded. “We didn’t think about that.” they said. In Florida 62% of electricity comes from natural gas because it is cheap and DEPENDABLE. Only 2% of Florida’s electricity comes from wind and solar. Without a good basis in science people get their information from the internet (which we know is all...
by Greg Kozera | Apr 17, 2016 | Blog
We hear a lot today about the evils of fossil fuels. Sadly from what I have experienced, based on my now well over 100 radio interviews and public presentations, many Americans really don’t understand where their energy comes from. Last fall I got a phone call from a reporter for a major Los Angeles, CA newspaper. She wanted to know why the oil industry works on oil wells after they are drilled. This was a simple 5 minute conversation. Then she added, “Mr. Kozera, we have a lot of oil wells here in southern California. This crude oil, what do we do with it?” I thought it was a trick question so I said, “Excuse me.” She continued, “What do we use crude oil for?” I was surprised and responded, “We refine it into gasoline so that you can drive your car.” “Have we been doing that for long?” she asked. “Only about 100 years and before crude oil we used whale oil.” I responded. “Wow, that’s fascinating.” She was serious. We then had an hour long discussion about crude oil. Where talked about where it comes from and all of the things we use it for like plastics, other household products and of course motor fuels. This reporter had a new understanding of the value of crude oil when we finished. The oil industry never gets credit for saving whales but that is exactly what happened. In the early 1800s the United States had a whaling industry consisting of several hundred ships based primarily in New England. Herman Melville’s book Moby Dick is a based on whaling. In...
by Greg Kozera | Apr 12, 2016 | Blog
We hear a lot about Climate Change in the media but based on public surveys most Americans could care less. This shouldn’t be surprising since whether we are dealing with tobacco, obesity, drug use and even retirement, things that are off in the future are low priority. We tend to worry more about what will happen today or tomorrow than what will happen 10 or 20 years in the future. The coal miner or gas industry employee that has been laid off is far more concerned about putting food on the table or making the house payment than the potential consequences of climate change that might happen 20 years in the future. I was at a conference in Ohio a few months ago. I met a woman from eastern Ohio. We were talking about energy and she said, “Greg, I live in eastern Ohio where all of the drilling is. Four years ago all we heard from the “environmental” (anti) groups was all of the bad things that were going to happen.” She continued, “We haven’t seen any of the bad things they told us would happen. All we have seen are the jobs and economic benefits. We know now that the “environmentalists” and even the media lied to us. We will never believe them again.” I must admit that I am skeptical about climate change. I have actually been exposed to data and information on both sides of the issue. I had to work at it because the internet is dominated by pro- climate change information. That actually makes me suspicious. There is more data and information out...
by Greg Kozera | Aug 6, 2015 | Blog
Many of the world’s most powerful leaders could probably use a refresher course in what they’re supposed to be best at – leadership, which largely has to do with engendering confidence in a group effort and getting individuals to take responsibility for their role. High-powered government officials and well-funded CEOs have attained so much power, resources and privilege that many could learn a few things from successful leaders in less-privileged positions. As a successful volunteer leader and high school soccer coach, I know. A leader who volunteers time for a charitable cause, for example, can’t afford to fire people who underperform, because eventually there’d be too few volunteers. High school coaches also work with a limited pool of talent. How do some leaders with major limits on resources become successful? Inspiring leadership within the team is how it’s done. As a soccer coach at a small Catholic high school in West Virginia, I led an unlikely crew of boys to their school’s first state soccer championship game, later winning the state’s AA-A title. In the last six years they have won five (5) State AA-A Championships and were ranked 11th in the country among ALL high schools by Max Preps (Part of CBS Sports). More importantly, these kids learned leadership within their own lives. It turns out, years later, that one of them wound up as the doctor who successfully treated my wife at the local hospital after a bad car accident. Volunteer organizations always need help, and a person can move into a leadership position in very little time. Remember, volunteers will leave...
by Greg Kozera | Jul 15, 2015 | Blog
Have you ever thought about being a leader? The sooner you start the better. First, I want to start with adults who may be getting by with a middling job, paying the bills and are generally okay with things – but they could be better. Leadership in this sense doesn’t have to mean taking over your company’s department or coaching a youth sports team; it could simply mean doing those things that you’ve been putting off. Many adults do just enough to get by. Someday, they tell themselves, they’ll pick up all the pieces and be the person they were always meant to be. Unfortunately, that day is never today. That day is always in some vague period in the future, perhaps a few weeks or a month or so. I am a man of hope. I don’t believe leaders are born, but rather they’re taught. Ideally, children are taught lessons in leadership at an early age, but not everyone has that luxury. We don’t always choose the lessons we learn or the teachers, coaches and other leaders we are given. This can set us on a trajectory that is less than idea. But, as adults, we have greater freedom to choose what we do and who we can be. With that in mind, why not take the first step today? It can be a baby step, and tomorrow can be two baby steps – whatever it takes to get some kind of momentum. That baby step could be doing something in an effort for a healthier diet. Who knows, sooner or later you may contact that relative you’ve...
by Greg Kozera | May 29, 2015 | Thoughts to Ponder
We are over 10 years into the shale revolution and sadly we still hear about the “evils of horizontal drilling and fracking” in the media and especially at public meetings. New York State decided to ban the process. One quote I heard from one of the public officials was, “I wouldn’t want my kids to live next to a well site.” (Because of the dangers) I have 4 wells around me on all sides and we raised 3 kids in this house. I wouldn’t want to raise my kids in New York City. I have been there and it is far more polluted and dangerous. In communications the oil and gas industry focuses primarily on the jobs and economic benefits they provide to the communities they operate in and to our country. This is certainly true. The oil and gas industry probably kept the latest recession from being a depression. But this is just the beginning. It is time to bust the myth of the “evils of fracking” once and for all. If there are any evils out there it is probably among the anti- frack crowd who are doing their best to hurt ALL Americans as well as the environment. Most “antis” are probably clueless to the damage try are trying to cause and all the people they are trying to hurt. Here is a bigger picture of what the oil and gas industry does that we all should be talking about; If you like your low gasoline prices, THANK A DRILLER, THANK A FRACKER. If you prefer riding in your car to walking, THANK A DRILLER, THANK...
