First Time Me Redux
First an apology to those who have commented on this blog. Thank you for your interest and feedback. I found your messages after some a confused and extended search – some were aging in a remote folder I had neglected. My attempts to respond have in some cases kicked back as undeliverable. You might try again if you.. read more →
Hail, Hail, Rock ‘n Roll!
Let’s step aside from the headline issues of the day, if only to reflect on the impact of a singular innovator – Chuck Berry. He changed everything for me when the world seemed a dull, gray angry place. In my late grammar school years, teachers wore their hair in buns, stuffed a Kleenex up their.. read more →
A World View – Climate Hardball
This is part three of a three-part series regarding climate change. Part I was published on Monday, March 27; Part II on Wednesday, March 29. To view all three installments, please click here. While domestic push-pull of climate change and tax schemes are tiresome, and overflow with invective and drivel, the very real conflict of climate.. read more →
Carbon Taxes – The best solution except for all the others
This is part two of a three-part series regarding climate change. Part I was be published on Monday, March 27; and Part III on Friday, March 31. To view all three installments, please click here. What’s not to like about a carbon tax? Its backers claim it will be revenue neutral, it will place the social.. read more →
On Climate: Deniers, Taxes and a World View
This is part one of a three-part series regarding climate change. Part I will be published on Monday, March 27; Part II on Wednesday, March 29, and Part III on Friday, March 31. To view all three installments, please click here. “Denier” It is today an absolute pejorative employed by the global environmental theocrats against.. read more →
Term Limits – Be Careful What You Ask For
As campaign “hooks” go, “Term Limits” always finds a receptive audience. The desire by an angered element of the electorate to rid itself of the other guy’s candidate lurks close to the surface in every campaign cycle. The vitriol on the right toward the Pelosis and Reids of the left is equaled by the like sentiments.. read more →
Federal Family
Some months ago at an industry conference, a mid-level staffer in one of the federal bureauracy’s ABC agencies revealed what few such employees have ever acknowledged. In describing inter-agency communications and joint actions, this official freely and often referred to the federal “family.” In a room full of oil and gas Government Affairs practitioners, heads.. read more →
A Path Forward for the Least Among Us
The primary intellectual and vocational focus of the PolicySmith is energy, and the ways in which conventional fuels substantially better the lives of those who utilize them. With that in mind, I offer a new way of considering Black Lives Matter, and one that could embolden and improve the lives of a large sector of.. read more →
First time you, first time me…
“First time you, first time me.” This quote, lifted from Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid as he expresses the same unfamiliarity with the workings of a karate tournament as his pupil Daniel-san, describes this blog and this post. Freshly minted, the Policysmith has no dings, dents or negative feedback – yet. This space will.. read more →
Oil and Gas Industry and Public Policy Veteran Announces Creation of PolicyWorks America, LLC
DENVER (March 1, 2017) – Jack R. Ekstrom, who recently retired from Whiting Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: WLL) as Vice President of Corporate and Government Relations, has launched PolicyWorks America. The Denver-based consultancy specializes in advocacy for conventional fuels and energy production, creation of winning political strategies and advancement of corporate communication objectives. “Retirement certainly doesn’t.. read more →