Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:00:11 Good morning, everyone, to all of our followers for months and months, years, maybe, and all those newcomers. Welcome to another exciting episode of coffee with Jim and James. James. I got to tell you before I turn it over something, maybe it's through assmosis I've been feeling like taking charge, taking action, you know, and I keep saying to myself, you know, is a key to it. Natural gas. Maybe I have those words jumbled up. Do you think our special guests might be able to help me assemble those words in the right order?
Speaker 2 00:00:43 No doubt about it, Jimmy. Good morning. How are you?
Speaker 1 00:00:46 I'm good, sir. How are you?
Speaker 2 00:00:48 I am pumped, man. Um, today we have, we have a super special guest today, Jeremy, uh, over there. I don't know where let's say. Is it this way? Um, we have Ms. Susan oval from the Southern gas association. Good morning, Suzanne.
Speaker 1 00:01:05 Good morning. Thank you for having me on the show and listen to it all the time. So I'm excited to be on with you
Speaker 2 00:01:12 Mean you are the first person I ever say that. So you're welcome to come back anytime. I'll tell you what I've started to do. It's kind of funny when you make something like that. Some gym you can, you can tell me what you do, but when you, when you have a show like this, I don't find myself going back and watching them a lot. Like we get them, we, you know, live through it, we record it and then we push it out and it's onto the next month and the next one. But here lately, we've been kind of transitioning back to the office a little bit more and hit the office. And so I have a little bit of DriveTime, not a lot, but it allows me some time and I find myself listening to it while I drive. And I'm not necessarily watching it, obviously I'm driving, but I'll put it on and listen to it like a podcast. So I keep trying to talk, Jim, I think we're going to go the way of the podcast. So Jim, do you find yourself listening to it?
Speaker 1 00:02:07 Well, you know, I, I just for fun, you know, we started this as therapy, James, you know, at the beginning of COVID as just a way to outreach to people and to feel like we were getting out. And, uh, yeah, it's fun to go back to the union ones because our style was so much different. It's like, should we say this now? Should we not say that now? Should we say that? And how it's just much more free flowing and conversational. And, uh, I, it's fun. You know, it's great to make fun of myself and I show the grandkids and they like, what are you doing? So it's fun. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:02:39 Yeah. My, uh, my daughter will walk by Suzanne and she'll see Jim on a zoom call, just a normal zoom call, you know, meeting and she'll go, Oh, there's Jim from Jim and James. So we're kind of the big deal. We're super famous now, but Suzanne, obviously we're not here to talk about us today, even though we spent all that time. Um, I'll tell you what to get people ramped into it. Tell us about, tell us obviously your role, but, um, tell us about the SGA for those that maybe are not involved in it. Uh, and, and what, what you do for the sta.
Speaker 3 00:03:15 So I'm going to tell you first, that's not student government association, which is an acronym that we also happen to share. So then I'm certainly not a teenager, a college student, but so SGA Southern gas association been around since 1908. Uh, the operators got together when they were building all the pipelines when America was growing and they wanted to solve the problems that they're started in the South. Hence the name of that, our members are from California to Delaware, so Southern, not so relevant anymore, but, uh, definitely we have producers, midstream companies, transmission companies, municipals. So it goes the entire gamut of the, uh, of the, the industry. And really the focus for us is, uh, training and education. So we're not an advocacy. Well, we do advocacy, but we're not a lobbying organization. So we don't do any lobbying at all, but we do do advocacy for the industry. And so I've been there since, uh, February of 2019, which has flown by, and it was also doctors all at one time, have new bags under my eyes.
Speaker 2 00:04:21 I always say that a, that was a million years ago just yesterday for sure. Shoe
Speaker 1 00:04:29 Suzanne, let me, let me, uh, I've been a member of the SGA for just a short amount of time, 11 years. And I, you know, so many of our colleagues have been members for decades and decades, but I have the utmost respect for everything that you just talked about, that you do for the industry, for the constituents, the people safety, all those. And, you know, I was kinda making a little bit of fun and, you know, having a little bit of fun this morning, but take action month. Uh, that's a huge initiative. Uh, I we've seen it. We've seen it over LinkedIn and emails and meetings and such. Can you bring us up to speed on take action month?
Speaker 3 00:05:04 Absolutely. It's really exciting. It was the brain child of Don rakes. Who's our chair this year. He's the president of gas distribution for dominion. And he, you know, I think we're all facing in a situation where we are frustrated with as professionals. We understand the importance of natural gas in the energy chain and how we're going to get there. And that it's a partner to renewables, not a competitor. And, um, you know, I think the whole point of natural gas take action is to empower, to strengthen the message, to increase knowledge and to support the members of the Southern gas association and other people out there in our industry. So the it's a whole month all the month of October and it's going well, uh, I guarantee you that we'll be doing it again. Next October. My plan is to make it every October going forward. Uh, it's really about giving a voice to our industry.
Speaker 2 00:05:58 Yeah. Suzanne used to what I first heard about that. I heard it kind of by proxy, I knew y'all were doing something on the battery. I wouldn't tell us what you were doing. You were being all sneaky, but when it came out and I saw the email from med first, uh, came through and I was like, you know, this to me sounds like in a, in a really good way. I mean, this is a compliment. I love the natural gas champions program. This is like a public facing, let's put it all out there, version of that on steroids. Am I right wrong and different
Speaker 3 00:06:32 You're right. So, you know, we do have natural gas champions and that's a course that anybody can go through. And James wrote a, uh, he's in my book that will be coming out at the conclusion of take action month, but this really has several different spokes to it. So one of them is education. So like just this morning, I was on a town hall webinar with Dawn and Jimmy state news, the CEO of Southern gas and Arthur Corbyn. Who's the CEO of, um, M gag municipal gas authority of, of Georgia. And we were talking just generally about gas past present future. And where does it fall in there? We had, uh, Alex Epstein launched with a very, really important, and I think purposeful webinar about human flourishing and natural gas and how that's part of it. And then we have some on hydrogen on decarbonisation, there's just an assortment of education webinars to really help people school up in their conversation around natural gas.
Speaker 3 00:07:29 Um, and then just the grassroots rapper effort of just, we have a whole bunch of assets we're putting out there, whether they're daily facts, I'm writing a bunch of pieces on LinkedIn and we really just want to help change the narrative. And maybe through that, somebody can have an aha moment, right? So there's a lot of negative information coming forth from the media and from activists. And what we want to do is help people, um, connect really through this grassroots efforts with personal stories about how natural gas positively affects their lives, their businesses, their communities. And I think the point of a grassroots effort is really to bring the voice of the American people, the regular average citizen. It's like your, your family, my family, um, instead of hearing all the noise from people out there that have an agenda that don't really have the information about how they're going to get there.
Speaker 1 00:08:22 I have a question for, I, I just want to build on that because you brought some really good points. And then the news lately I've been hearing and seen a lot about net zero and you know, a lot of people get on that and yes, that's Euro and, but there's, so it's so complex when you look at those two little words, there's so much involved to it. Thoughts on that on the net zero.
Speaker 3 00:08:45 Yeah, no, it's not. Is there a really interesting, like there's so many countries and cities and companies that are now starting to pledge net zero by 2050, you know, originally that came from the Paris accord. Um, I think that there's estimates that collectively say like net zero pledges represent 25% of the world's emissions now, and 50% of the global output. Now, I don't know what the power shift, where that is because of the reduced demand for power with COVID and everything else. But you still have lots of countries internationally that are not even beginning to pledge net zero. And so it's a shift of carbon from one area to the other, but listen, our companies, um, our member companies, uh, lots of people in the industry are making pledges on net zero as well. And what net zero means is, uh, residual emissions can be offset, right?
Speaker 3 00:09:33 So you have to really understand what is net zero. I mean, we had a webinar last week on decarbonization. And when you look at the net zero plans, um, most of the companies have an increase of natural gas in order to get to the net zero. So, uh, what, what worries me is that there is net zero plants, but they have to have a meaningful way of achieving that. And natural gas is really what most meaningful ways to achieve that. So when you look at the policies that could potentially be set for us, where they reduce or want to eliminate fracking, which was, is what makes gas accessible at this level that allows us to reduce and ha to have reduced the carbon significantly. Those policies could really get in the way of achieving the goals of net zero. And that's kind of scary when you think about it from our perspective where we understand how it all goes together, right?
Speaker 2 00:10:29 Oh, I was just gonna say, it's a good point because if you just have pieces of the pie or the puzzle without putting them all together, you don't see the whole picture and that's, you brought up a very good point about that, Suzanne. Very good. Go ahead.
Speaker 3 00:10:45 Because they said, you know, when you look at residual emissions and they need to be removed from the atmosphere, that's part of it. And the only way you're going to get there is with natural gas, whether it's through carbon capture and storage, whether it's from the renewable natural gas or a carbon sink, such as force or something like that, those are the only ways you're going to be able to reduce emissions. And if you cut off access to that, you're not going to be able to make your goal. So sorry to interrupt you.
Speaker 2 00:11:09 No, no, that's great. Um, Suzanne, another big part of it to me is, and SGA voices that as part of this initiative really well, and that's that a lot of people don't understand what all is a product of natural gas, right? They think it's, it's the gas running through the pipeline and that's the only decisions we're making. But what, what have you, what does the SGA do as far as, as highlighting those benefits or that totality of products, if you will, from natural gas,
Speaker 3 00:11:45 That's a really great point, right? So I mean, I think the general public doesn't have any understanding that natural gas is a feedstock and all the, that it produces. Um, there's, there's a group called life power that made a fabulous video. James, you probably saw it in the natural gas trading and it starts with the second that you wake up in the morning and your alarm clock going off and your tires on your car and your rubber shoes and your, you know, like everything pretty much anything and everything that is the modern convenience of the life. And the quality of life that we have is a result of the product in which, I mean, this is a really interesting point to me, particularly as we're coming out of COVID right. And so they talk about healthcare and they talk about this, but the products are made that are, are saving lives are from natural gas, right?
Speaker 3 00:12:31 So if you eliminate that, your accessibility to healthcare that is going to save lives is missing. There's just, there's so much more to the story. And as professionals, it's really challenging for us because we understand the complexity, uh, and then you get people that really don't. And I think that the key to this is that this is what the take action month is important. So I'll I yesterday, or I think it was this weekend, you know, I grew up in California. So I, you know, my, my family's groups do nuts really is how it goes. Right. And, um, so
Speaker 2 00:13:04 I was going to say that explains a lot, but go ahead.
Speaker 1 00:13:09 I did not say it. I, I was quiet at, during that one.
Speaker 2 00:13:12 I'm just a Texas boy stuck between Suzanne who's from California and Jim modes in Florida. It's, it'll be fine.
Speaker 3 00:13:20 Hey, like I have a house in Florida too, so I'm over there too. So I decided to go on my Facebook this weekend and put out the Alex Epstein video. And what I did essentially is asked them, I said, how open minded would you be? Just exploring this idea. I'm not asking you to change your mind. I'm not arguing with you on your facts. And you know, I was, I was ready for a blow back. I realized that I was like, Oh, I want to do this. But really I think that's the key because we can share on our LinkedIn, but on our LinkedIn, we're all going to have essentially people that are somewhat touching us through some kind of a connection, right. And really where the impact comes from is when you get to the families and you get to your church and you get to all these different people who maybe don't have the exposure to the information that we have.
Speaker 2 00:14:09 No bell. Jim, Jim, I'm going to give you all the power in the world right now. How's it feel Normally, Suzanne, I, I ask a very pointed question right now, but I'm going to let Jim do it today because he dressed so nice.
Speaker 3 00:14:29 Oh, am I seeing her?
Speaker 1 00:14:34 I did the sport coat. I don't wear the sport coat very often and coffee that Jim and James is. Everybody knows. But today I put the sport coat on. I feel like I'm at a conference right now and I'm walking up and I see Suzanne and we haven't seen each other since it's COVID. And the first thing I'm going to stadia Suzanne, is, do you love what you do?
Speaker 3 00:14:55 Oh my gosh, that's such an easy question for me. I love what I do. I, you know, when I, when I saw this job open, I knew this is what I wanted to do. When people ask me that, I mean, I worked in the industry for 30 years and I worked across all the different sectors of it. And I can't think of a better job to be able to reach, to touch all these different people in advanced and industry. And just, I mean, these, everybody, I love the industry that people are fantastic. The members of the SGA are fantastic. It's such a generative place to be. I just, well, I could go on forever, but yes, I love it. But I do notice Jim, that you are wearing the rebranded energy world net logo on your shirt. You just maybe need to pump it out a little bit there. Yeah, I like that. I mean, is it noticeable? I mean, tell me about the rebranding real quick.
Speaker 1 00:15:45 Well, this is where I'm going to defer to our mastermind, the person that was behind us for, I'm going to say over a year, and that is Mr. Lacrosse. I would love to say a few words about that.
Speaker 2 00:15:59 Um, you know, about 18 months ago, we, we had some conversations and really wanted to bring everything back to our core, which we've been in business for almost 30 years. And so we really wanted to get 100% every motion, every action that we had focused around really creating the best user experience. And I don't mean that just from the product. I mean, not from the interactions to every email, every everything, right. And to create, if it's not backing up that, um, then, then we need to look at it and look a little bit deeper. So, um, you know, the look and feel, it's fantastic. We're happy to update that also, but really the commitment behind the new logo and the look and feel, and action is what it's all about. So, uh, it's been a blast and, um, and super intense. The last you can imagine being in lockdown, it was like double locked down, you know, imagine working on your biggest, uh, project in your career, but doing it in a pandemic was, uh, it was amazing to go after,
Speaker 3 00:17:01 You know, I think the whole rebranding that you guys did, you guys do a fabulous job. I mean, just, I have always enjoyed working with you, James. I met you right away and I just, you and me, you and Myra, both are fantastic. And Jim, I'm sure you're good too. I don't know.
Speaker 2 00:17:14 How's our hashtag decent,
Speaker 3 00:17:17 But listen, I mean, you know, this is really what the natural gas industry needs to do too, is rebrand, right. It really focused on it. I mean, so I think it's really important. Congratulations to you. I know it was a huge lift and a big effort, but good job.
Speaker 1 00:17:31 Thank you. And again, kudos to James and the exciting part about it. It wasn't the end when we did the rebranding announcement, it was actually the beginning. It's almost like a PSMs journey where James, in his infinite mind, he's like, okay, over the next 18, 24, 36 months, this is where I see things. And it's just absolutely exciting to, uh, get a glimpse into James, his brain, because I tell you it's a very complex area.
Speaker 2 00:17:59 That's one way to say it. That's very PC way of saying, I'm sure my wife, my wife will be our guests next week. And she'll have another way of saying how
Speaker 3 00:18:08 Well we know that Jimmy Fallon, you know, he went, he ran out of people, used to start bringing his wife on too.
Speaker 1 00:18:15 While we, although we have been blessed, we have guests that continue to want to come on, even after seeing the show they still want to come on. So
Speaker 3 00:18:26 I saw Cindy on here and I just said, I want to turn,
Speaker 2 00:18:29 Semi's coming back. We're going to have a whole, I think we're gonna have a whole series about StrengthsFinder and other soft skills. There's a lot of things for us to talk
Speaker 3 00:18:39 About. She's really
Speaker 2 00:18:42 Fantastic. All right. Well, Jimmy, you want to take us out?
Speaker 1 00:18:46 Yeah, yeah. Um, anything else we want to add? Or we, everybody is good for today. Good.
Speaker 2 00:18:52 Suzanne, do you play that piano back there?
Speaker 3 00:18:55 My piano. Yeah. Get to play it every once in a while.
Speaker 1 00:19:01 Lissa I, Suzanne, we cannot thank you enough for joining us today. We know your schedule is incredibly busy. You are working tirelessly for the natural gas industry. We thank you. And from your words, they too, I would encourage all of our listeners to, and watch us to, to do what you suggested, go out and research and understand and join the SGA and take part in the webinars and the learning sessions and you know, the trainings and such like that. The more educated we are as a nation, the better we are. So we can't thank you enough. We encourage all of our viewers to connect with Suzanne, to follow the SGA follow James and I, if you want to, you know, you don't have to, but if you can, we would appreciate the followers. And until the next episode of car food and Jim and James, it is absolutely my pleasure to say, thank you on behalf of, uh, James and Suzanne today, everybody please stay safe. God bless you. And God bless our industry. And until next time,
Speaker 3 00:19:59 We'll see ya go vote. Yeah. Yup.
Speaker 2 00:20:05 And what's the hashtag season gases.
Speaker 3 00:20:08 He heard Pence call out for gas. Thank goodness.
Speaker 1 00:20:13 Follow the SGA folks. Follow and connect with Suzanne.
Speaker 3 00:20:17 Thank you. I left. It had been with you guys.
Speaker 1 00:20:21 <inaudible>.
