Is the Big Bad Wolf really that bad?
Yergin’s “The Prize” is a industry-insider written summary worth reading for its scope, even if it is not at all an honest exposé. While I personally find the entire idea of corporations selling me my own [natural resource] assets philosophically abhorrent, if I were you I’d jump at the chance to get into the industry. The modern-day oil industry suffers under much tighter environmentalist oversight than it did in the past, so the old horror stories no longer have currency. I can’t think of any company that is truly “ethical” . . . but it never hurts to see for yourself how the world really operates, as long as you’re making buttloads of money for this education.
I worked for a time in the oil business on the exploration side and I’ve worked for defense contractors and a slew of other businesses over the course of my career so I consider myself something of an expert in “evil” businesses. I think it is folly to ascribe “evil” or “good” to a corporation’s intent. In pretty much every company I’ve worked for, their overwhelming motivation has been to maximize their profit margins. The side effect of this is sometimes what we label as “evil,” but it is really not. If the side-effect of their profit-seeking behavior has results that we dislike, we label it as evil. In general, every company is primarily composed of people who want to go about their lives in as ethical a fashion as they can. When they have choices, they tend to pick the one that does the least damage. If the laws of our country punish environmental damage, the oil companies will avoid it to the best of their ability. In third world countries with limited regulation, they will do as
Excellent points made by all. I’m a petroleum engineer with 25 years, and so I believe that I some modest insight into the industry. I disagree with missouri_lawyer one one minor point though. Using the rationale presented, would an ethical person be a lawyer? Tongue in cheek, but the point is made. (However, I’m certain that I am taking the point out of context). The only way to improve any industry “ethically challenged” business is to bring ethical people into it. For example, I thought that I was environmentally and socially ethical when I joined up for the patch. One person ascribed to the unbelievable swings from good economic times to bad. YES. And as missouri_lawyer said, if you think history can’t repeat itself, you are not paying attention. I have gone through four separate downturns, and it is painful every time. It was “never gonna happen”. (And yes, geologists get skidded as well, which seems insane to me). In my grad. class, at our five (or so) year reunion, everyone that
fox_terrier_guy: I am a little miffed at your dig at mechanical engineering graduates :). Automobile safety has vastly improved over the years, while working for masters which demand lower development and manufacturing costs to meet market demands. Everybody wants the safest car. Very few want to pay for it. OP: You are in the business of exploiting natural resources, evil or not, we could not live as we do without this. In developed nations, environmental regulations keep things under tight control, but yes, there are still problems in less loosely regulated areas. Keep in mind though that environmental evils are not usually one big corporation doing one big bad thing, but an accumulation of bad decisions by many corporations and individuals in an area which, on their own, would seem insignificant, but when added up over time, turn into a larger problem. I have worked with many geologists in the minerals industry, some have come from oil when work was lacking, but all were enthusiasti
