June 2019, ScientificAmerican.com 9FORUM
COMMENTARY ON SCIENCE IN
THE NEWS FROM THE EXPERTSIllustration by Tara JacobyKatie Mehnert is founder of Pink Petro and Experience Energy.
She testified before the House Committee on Energy & Commerce’s
Subcommittee on Energy on February 27, 2019.More Women =
Better Energy
Diversity leads to innovation,
which is crucial to fight climate change
By Katie MehnertClimate change is one of the most monumental challenges of
our time. But even as it draws in creas ing calls for action, one of
the most important steps we can take still gets far too little at-
tention: we need more women in the energy sector. Only 15 per-
cent of employees in the oil and gas industry are women, and
that number is even smaller when you look at higher-paying
technical jobs.
Despite popular belief to the contrary, most leaders in oil and
gas do recognize the reality of climate change. And many say they
want to do something about it. A survey by Ernst & Young (EY)
found that 93 percent of oil and gas executives believe climate
change is real, and 67 percent say oil and gas companies want to
and can be part of the solution.
I think these figures—and the industry’s actual commitment to
reducing emissions—would in crease further if there were more
women executives at these companies. The Yale Program on Cli-
mate Change Communication recently reported that “on average,
women are slightly more likely than men to be concerned about
the environment and have stronger pro-climate opinions and
beliefs.” And for years some women in energy fields have been
prominent voices calling for greater action.
To implement that action, the oil and gas industry also needs
innovation. It needs a constant influx of new ideas, systems,
technologies and business structures. The EY survey found that
only 37 percent of oil and gas executives believe their companies
are currently doing a good job combating climate change. Inno-
vation could change that trend, and more women would bring
it. As the Stanford Social Innovation Review has reported, grow-
ing evidence shows that greater equality breeds inno vation—
“the creation of new and potentially disruptive ideas, products,
or services.”
This is true for all forms of diversity. The more different
perspectives and life experiences that people bring to board-
rooms and work teams, the more innovative ideas they can come
up with together.
I see this in action every day—and I see how far the traditional
energy sector has to go. It was just a few years ago that a man I sat
next to on a flight asked me, “What’s a pretty young lady like you
doing in a dark, dangerous business like oil and gas?” Comments
like that are one reason I left a career in big oil to launch my own
company aimed at bringing more women into the business. There
are still far too many obstacles preventing women from entering
the energy field and from reaching their full potential within it.
The sector is paying a deep price for its long-term failure to
recruit and retain a diverse workforce. When other industries
beefed up operations to establish talent pipelines into diverse
communities, far too many energy companies did not.
We also need stronger STEM programs for young
women and ample support for those programs from the
oil and gas companies. My organization, Pink Petro,
included these steps and more in a report listing recom-
mendations to close the gender gap in oil and gas. And I
launched Experience Energy to help energy companies
and talented female candidates find each other.
To move forward, oil and gas companies also need to
erase the negative perceptions many people have of the
industry. As EY describes, for instance, its survey found
that “less than a quarter of consumers believe most oil
and gas companies have acknowledged that climate
change is real.” The industry is aware it needs to improve
its communication with the public and awareness of its
efforts to protect the environment.
My husband, daughter and I have witnessed the dev-
astation of climate change firsthand in Houston. We lost
our home and my business during Hurricane Harvey. In
our city, the energy capital of the world, most conversa-
tions around climate change revolve around big ques-
tions—a growing search for new ideas and a desire to transition
into new ways of operating. We talk a lot about how our most
important resource is the workforce that can power us forward.
For big ideas to flourish and big actions to follow, people of all
backgrounds must be at the table tackling these challenges to -
gether. It is time all Americans see themselves represented among
the decision makers at the companies that fuel our world.JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE
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