He
explained that roughly 85 percent of the world's energy markets are
made up of fossil fuels, and proclaimed that consumers would "be
driving gasoline cars for quite a while."

The cheap availability
of fossil fuels to the world was a fact that each speaker brought up
repeatedly, yet there seemed to be an almost biased attitude towards
alternative energy sources.

Panel leader and Tufts Adjunct
Professor Bruce Everett, who also worked for Exxon Mobil, described
hybrid automobiles to the audience as "very expensive" with a
"poor-performing battery." When the panel was asked about hybrid cars,
the men looked visibly unenthusiastic, stating they didn't think hybrid
cars would yet be very successful.

Stanislaw was the one
speaker to give the question detailed discussion, albeit not in support
of the product's receipt by public demand. He told an anecdote of an
Asian company he claimed lost billions of dollars on building a hybrid
car factory, only to face defeating sales numbers.

"No one will build these factories unless they know people will buy these cars," Stanislaw said.

But
the conference, according to publicity about the event, was supposed to
focus on the array of energy solutions available to us now. The
innovation in various fields and optimistic creativity that are needed
for a variety of energy sources wouldn't seem to stem from the same
place the three panel speakers were coming from. They were adamant
about the money involved in the fossil fuel industry, and the
significance of the industry itself.

Herzog concluded his
introductory speech by stating that fossil fuels are "so superior to
alternatives for energy." Stanislaw and Robbins both stated that fossil
fuels are "embedded" in global society, and not going to be too
adversely affected by the introduction of new energy sources or other
threats to the market anytime soon.

On the subject of environmental awareness, the panel was unattached.

Herzog
explained that, in his opinion, resolving climate change would be a
long and uncertain battle. He said he was "not optimistic about
reducing emissions" in the ways currently being debated, but he thought
it would take necessary courage to solve the problem.

Stanislaw, however, made statements that seemed insensitive to the environmental issue altogether.

"I don't talk a lot about climate change," Stanislaw said. "Climate change is an irrelevant discussion."

As for the limited availability of fossil fuel, Stanislaw stated, "I don't think we're running out of oil."

He concluded that a carbon tax would not effectively decrease the use of gasoline, either.

"Are
you going to change your behavior for 2 or 3 cents a gallon?" Stanislaw
asked. He said the importance should be placed on "down-to-Earth things
we can touch" over climate change.

Robbins displayed a series
of charts that showed the history of fossil fuel popularity and its
relation to industrialization around the world. He commented on
environmental impacts, referencing the deforestation of England. He
rounded out his presentation by showing a potential measurement of what
he felt would be responsible addition of alternative sources to the
energy market. But he said he felt, as Herzog did, that newer fueling
would take time, saying we should "steer the shift slowly."

"The energy industry will not go away overnight," Robbins said.

If
the men on the evolving fossil fuels panel retained that their priority
was economics, what did the rest of the conference's participants
think? Everett said there was no "hostility" meant toward the
alternative energy industry – it just simply wasn't an area of
expertise for fossil fuel companies. And after all, the talk was only
the first part of the night's schedule. An entire showcase of
alternative energy solutions was to follow. Surely there were thinkers
and problem-solvers present who sought different industries with
different impetus.

Sam MacNaughton, an Electrical Engineering
graduate student at Tufts, was part of a project to develop new means
of harnessing solar energy. Though solar energy itself would,
hopefully, be less biologically damaging, MacNaughton saw the project
as beneficial for another reason.

When asked what the most effective part of the project was, he replied, "It's very cheap."

He said he believes what will push the transition to alternative fuels is economics.

"It's
not like you wake up in the morning and can't breathe because the air's
so polluted," he stated, explaining that he thinks there is still not
enough immediacy in certain threats to move people to change their
lifestyles.

MacNaughton said that financial concerns are a "more direct, more palpable" reality for consumers.

Andrea
Zugravu, a student of Tufts University Fletcher School, helped to
conduct research on the energy potential of Greenland. She displayed a
multitude of opportunities for the country, with hydro power being a
particularly powerful possibility.

"The energy potential in
Greenland has enough hydropower to meet 70 percent of European demand,"
Zugravu explained. "But it requires significant investment."

When
asked whether she thought financial or environmental matters were more
important, Zugravu only slightly mirrored the fossil fuel panel.

She stated that financial matters, in the case of her own research, are important mostly for the people of Greenland.

"It's unreasonable to ask a country to step aside that has so many resources," Zugravu said.

On climate change, she said "I don't think there's much we can do about it."

The
student explained that for alternative energy to be a successful part
of the global market, she felt the argument itself has to change.

"Renewable
energy industries haven't been setting the right tone. It's not about
sustainable development in the U.S. – it's about energy security,"
Zugravu stated.

According to Zugravu, the focus of the fossil
fuels panel was an understandable one. Big buck companies, like Exxon,
"are connected to the bottom line," said Zugravu. "Sustainable
businesses don't care about the environment. They only care about the
environment because shareholders care."

However, she said the
cause is not lost for those people – people like the individual
consumer – who are more worried about their environment and health than
the financial well-being of fuel corporations.

"I worked in the private sector," Zugravu said. "We care when the public cares."