Before I founded 2C Energy, I spent sixteen years at Southwestern Energy Company, the fifth largest producer of natural gas in the United States. We knew our company depended on water to bring natural gas to market, but that communities where we worked depended on that water for everything they do. So, we decided to do something differently to avoid the clash between the company and the community – we set a goal to become “freshwater neutral” in all our operations by the end of 2016. This means that for every gallon of fresh water we used, we offset or replenished it – in the same region where it was used – through water-quality improvement projects and treatment technologies to return fresh water to the environment. It was unprecedented for the oil and gas industry – and it worked. People said we couldn’t do it, but we did!
We can meet these and other challenges – and we can do well by doing good – but it takes leadership. It takes determination to get there.
