An Engineer, A Lawyer and A Banker Walk Into a Bar
Engineer, Lawyer and Banker: Three friends debating the best way to solve pressing environmental issues.
The lawyer impatiently flags down the old man behind the worn wooden bar and orders three bourbons on the rocks. At first they talk about family, mutual friends, how their stocks are faring, and who’ s going to win the world series. Since college, the engineer, the lawyer and the banker find the time to get together a few times a year.
Once they have their first drink in hand, they start in on debating the best way to solve pressing environmental issues. Seeing as the lawyer bought the drinks, he feels fit to throw his opinion out first. As he loosens his light pink silk tie he tells them,“ If the government held polluters accountable for emissions with tighter policies it would reduce further pollution and slow the rise of the world’ s oceans.”
Listening quietly while sipping bourbon from the edge of his glass, the engineer reminds his friends in their suits,“ It’ s difficult to tell where emissions come from. They are carried on the wind across state and international borders and it’ s mostly past generations that made the majority of the emissions affecting us now.” A young woman sits a few bar stools away and orders a mojito and flashes the three men a curious glance.
Ice cubes clink against the banker’ s perfectlyaligned white teeth as he swallows the last of his bourbon. He adds that,“ Policy ought to be paired with taxation on emissions to create a financial incentive to reduce future warming”. He slicks back his thinning hair and adds,“ It’ s all about the money”.
Turning to the banker, the engineer says,“ It’ s unfair to tax upcoming urbanization in poor regions. How are they to get ahead with steep tax burdens not applied to other nations during their industrial revolution and urbanization stages? Slowing their economic growth would only stifle their ability to use more environmentally friendly methods to generate energy and add to the long-term use of coal.”
28 Oil & Gas Leaders • June 2017