Correction to BOSTON WORLD OIL CONFERENCE Report

By

Michael Kane

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In our report covering the ASPO-USA Boston World Oil Conference, FTW published the following:

(Kenneth) McDonnell was the main source for my report aon winter fuel shortages last year. He is well aware of Peak Oil and regularly reads high-quality energy publications. The fact that he heads the public relations department of ISO-NE indicates there are other qualified and intelligent people within this critical organization. Hopefully, this is the case.

I mistakenly reported that Kenneth McDonnell, the Senior Media Relations Specialist with ISO New England (ISO-NE), is the head of that organization’s public relations department. He is not in charge and he never told me that he was when we spoke in Boston or at any other time. This was my mistaken assumption.

In addition to this, it appears the way the above paragraph was worded may have been unclear in regards to my opinion of ISO-NE.

I never meant to imply that one branch of ISO-NE was smarter than any other. Ken McDonnell is a smart man who is aware of Peak Oil and Peak-related issues, and he works in the public relations department of ISO-NE. In my view, that indicates there are other professionals throughout this organization who are acutely aware of Peak Oil and how it will impact New England. I do not know for sure if this is true because I have not spoken with many ISO-NE employees, but I suspect that it is. This would be very good if true.

ISO-NE is a critical organization for the New England region. These are the people responsible for keeping the grid functioning. If I were a New England resident, I would sleep just the slightest bit sounder knowing that ISO-NE was aware of Peak Oil and its implications on my region. It would also be comforting to know that these people were attending Peak Oil events such as the one ASPO-USA just held in Boston. I cannot count how many states, cities, localities and affiliated agencies I called last year where public relations officials seemingly had no knowledge of Peak Oil or Peak-related issues.

At some point – whether 2, 5, or 10 years from now – the discussion of rationing in America is going to come up, and New England will likely be the first to deal with that reality due to the precarious position the region sits in. Being at the end of the supply line and lacking adequate fuel diversity in a cold region could make New England ground zero for Peak Oil in America.

I apologize to McDonnell and ISO-NE for the fact-checking error and the unclear color surrounding some of my words. Unfortunately, such inaccuracies can occur when a 5,000 word report is rushed to the presses.