January 9, 2008

It is already coming up on mid-January. Time is really flying. Perhaps it is the constant activity. Having our weekends generally planned takes a little decision making out of life and we seem to be just cruising. We did skip a day of skiing this past weekend as it was only 5 degrees and the snow was not that exciting. We took a short hike to Taku Lake instead. It was pretty cold, but we bundled up and walked a couple miles.

I had hoped to see moose. We had one young one in our parking lot earlier on Sunday so I was hoping to get some photos, but it was actually not so bad not having to dig my camera out in the cold. Besides, it is getting time for the moose to get pretty crabby.

We skied on Saturday for a couple hours. It was slightly warmer, low teens, but we still got pretty cold.

I am still trying to come to grips with my job offer. I am really excited by the work environment. It will be grueling at times heading into these remote work areas via helicopters and small planes, but it is a bit of an adventure, too. Everything I hear is that Chevron is a good company. It will not be without some sacrifice. I will give up the guaranteed 37.5 hour work week and a week of leave. I will have the risk of getting stranded by weather. On the other hand, I will probably have more flexibility to come and go as I need. I won’t have to spend leave on dentist appointments or sick days.

The job itself will be more pressure. In reality, if I screw up in my current job, there is little consequence. If I screw up in the new job, it could have significant consequence. This doesn’t worry me. I think I have learned that all stress is self induced and I am naturally inclined to self induce a certain level of stress. I might as well match the responsibilities to that level of stress. Ultimately, I found no huge pluses or minuses in making the decision so it really came down to the money. The money made it a no-brainer.

The cultural implications of leaving a state job and going to big oil are amusing. One perspective is that I am leaving the opportunity to fight big corporations in the cause of protecting the environment, but the reality is quite different, especially in Alaska. We are a development oriented state and working in the Department of Environmental Conservation is just a responsibility in support of development. It isn’t that we don’t protect the environment, it is just that we only protect the environment to the extent provided for by the will of the people. This will is expressed in the statutes and regulations. Protecting the environment in this manner makes it simply a responsibility, not a personal mission. Anyone on a personal mission will quickly meet with frustration at the limited authority of my current position.

Another perspective is that I am going to go work for those bad people, big oil. The oil industry has a partially deserved reputation. In our state, several legislators are going to jail for accepting bribes from a local contractor working in the interests of big oil. The oil companies constantly buy television advertising and visibly donate to local causes to remind us how kind they are. This is quite annoying. These things are not actually the root of the oil industry’s evil reputation. Everyone is quite aware that while most common people suffer with high energy costs, the oil companies enjoy record profits. No one who is suffering wants to see corporate profits. Corporate profits are not inherently evil, though. Evil is found in unfair manipulation of the distribution of wealth. The oil industry profits are not generally the result of unfair manipulation. Energy is a commodity and the price is determined by economic forces, not by greedy executives.

Once an oil corporation has profits, though, it can be greedy in its use and distribution of those profits. To me, the most disturbing trend in my lifetime isn’t the gradual changing of the climate, it is the rapid change in the relative incomes of those at the top versus those at the bottom. History tells us that when the wealth gets too concentrated in too small a percentage of the population, the large percentage of the population will go and take it from them. This trend is an indicator of future revolution.

While I can’t comment on the greed level of those in power, I do know that we enjoy a unique situation here in Alaska. No one wants to work here. My new job pays a 20% adder for Alaska. In other words, someone doing the same job in the lower 48 gets paid significantly less. In effect, we have found a less violent form of assuring that some of that wealth gets distributed down the food chain. Most low level workers in the oil industry up here are making six figure incomes. They also enjoy no state taxes, primarily because the will of our people is expressed in the taxation of oil company profits to the extent that we can support the functions of the state. We also enjoy a dividend payout to every citizen of the state, a further distribution of that oil wealth to a broader portion of the population. Finally, most people own stock in one or more of the oil companies, either directly or through mutual funds. Some of these record profits that are much maligned in the press are really just funding common people’s retirements. While I am sure the executives are making hundreds of times the typical worker due to their excessive power and influence in the decision making processes that determine their salaries, I see hope in our oil industry. I see hope in Alaska. We have found some ways to move some of the wealth down the economic scale. The fact that a bigger chunk of it is moving in my direction doesn’t hurt my understanding of these economic forces, either.

Aside from the financial side, I recognize that evil does exist, especially in the corporate world. While many of the battles against evil are pointless losing battles, I am not afraid of putting myself in environments where I may be forced to make decisions on the basis of my values. I am not afraid of standing up against evil when I think I have influence. On environmental issues, I know I can have a bigger impact being involved in making decisions rather than attempting to deal with poor decisions. In other words, working from the inside may be a more effective way of advancing any personal missions. In truth, my perspectives on life are rather centrist anyway. I often see both sides of controversial issues and don’t consider myself or anyone else truly knowledgeable enough to really have a position, or more accurately a conclusion.

A good example is global warming. There are those who are quite vocal about impending doom, explaining the mechanisms of the destruction of our environment. On the other side, we have people claiming it is all bogus. I laugh a little at both. I mean, come on, our best science can’t predict tomorrow’s weather, how can we think we can predict the changes in sea currents and air temperatures. I am not saying these things won’t happen, I am just saying we are not smart enough to know what may happen. On the other hand, being dismissive on the basis of unpredictable consequences is rather arrogant as well. Just because we can’t accurately predict the consequences doesn’t mean that pumping all this carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is a good thing. The numbers are staggering. The fact that we can measure a change in CO2 concentrations in the air over the last couple of decades is downright disturbing. I guess I see both sides and they are not mutually exclusive.

I guess what I am saying after all this is that I am comfortable going to work for an oil company. In fact, I am downright excited.