What my good friend Alex did yesterday inspires me more than I can say, but I will try. Several years ago he embarked on digging deep into understanding energy production--digging for truth on issues where political sympathies have led herds of people in *all* major political camps to superficial, and wrong, understanding of important issues. His clear, nuanced thinking earned him an impressive level of respect from leading energy writers and thinkers. His integrity and passion for the truth has led him to unapologetically state his disagreements, face-to-face, with everyone...from people at the top of the very largest energy companies in the world to publicly debating the most prominent and prolific environmentalists. And hes done these things at great personal expense, again, out of a passion for the idea that the truth must be told. Ive watched him form an unprecedented business model for ideas...based on his conviction that true ideas can produce real value in the marketplace--and do not need to be funded--as in the conventional think-tank model. And Ive watched him make that business model, with no precedent to follow, work and steadily grow. Ive watched as his personal ideas began to have serious impacts in changing the way people think and changing the way businesses behave. Ive watched as he took in stride many vociferous and rude detractors over the years, from every political stripe, accusing him of being from an opposing political stripe...as they simply could not conceive of a new way of thinking, and could only imagine that if they didnt already agree, he must be from the other political team. And then, Ive seen emails from people who had been live public hecklers attacking him personally and his ideas...emails that they have since become *champions* of his ideas, because of his ideas. Ive watched as the strength of his ideas alone brought a book deal to him, when he wasnt looking to write a book or get a book deal. A top publisher offered him a staggering advance for a first-time book author to put what he believed and cared about into a book. I watched him write what I think is one of the best-written, most engaging books Ive ever read. And with his hallmark intellectual honesty and thoroughness, hes poised to set a new bar for transparency in research--as his book website gets developed to give better access to, and discussion of, primary research relevant to all the topics in the book by all who are interested, a step that to my knowledge is unheard of. Yesterday, that book was published. The video trailer is here: https://youtube/watch?v=vu6637cjk8A Congratulations, Alex. Its an inspiring milestone moment that people and ideas can change the world. Heres to many more.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 22:26:32 +0000
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