W. David Prescott and Michael Ashley
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Let’s start our discussion with a story. A man we’ll call James Smith runs a mid-size oil and gas company in Texas’ Permian Basin. Under his leadership, Smith Operating has expanded operations, using private equity money to acquire more drilling acreage. His company employs over 500 people and is known for its innovative drilling techniques and safety commitment.
Founded by the Smith family three generations back, Smith Operating has weathered boom and bust cycles, always finding ways to keep going and stay profitable. That all changed one day when James got an unexpected call. "Don’t spend another dollar on hydrocarbons," his private equity lender said.
“Why not?” James asked.
“We’re under pressure to keep our ESG score strong. Funding fossil fuel operations jeopardizes all that.”
James was stunned. Smith Operating had always maintained a good relationship with its lenders and had an excellent loan repayment track record. Now, he was being asked to drastically shift his business model within 90 days. This meant halting all new drilling operations and presenting a plan to transition to renewable energy: solar, wind, geothermal, and batteries for EVs.
If not?
Smith Operating would lose access to critical financing. The company couldn't continue its operations, let alone expand as planned. James faced an impossible choice. His business excelled in oil and gas extraction. They had invested millions in equipment, leases, and staff for this industry. Switching to renewable energy wasn't just a matter of changing direction. It meant starting a new company from scratch and laying off most of his people.
This demand would not only cripple Smith Operating. It would deeply harm the local economy that had grown around the oil industry. James couldn’t sleep that night, knowing global energy demand was still rising. Abruptly cutting off supplies would devastate his fellow Americans, leading to price spikes and energy shortages, destroying more businesses and even lives.
Dire as this scenario sounds, it’s not farfetched.
Exasperating situations such as these drove us to cowrite Creative Destruction: How ESG Mandates Are Destroying Capitalism, Costing You Money, and Wrecking America (Greenleaf 2024.) What follows is a discussion adapted from our book. On the positive side, it’s promising that Donald Trump—no ESG fan himself—won the presidential election. But there’s still work to be done to reverse the damage caused by this insidious trojan horse disguised as virtue.
Let’s cover five ways to turn this nightmare around.
1) Stop the Elites’ Unfettered Power Grab
We must remove authoritarians from their vaunted positions, reducing or eliminating their influence over government, business, and society. The new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is a good start. But it’s not enough. We need to dismantle revolving private/public partnerships that permit big business to collude with big government. One way to specifically target ESG hucksters is to permit more lawsuits against retirement funds that acted against pensioners’ interests. We have to hold them accountable if they betrayed their fiduciary duty by divesting from fossil fund investments to advance “environmental goals” over securing profitable returns.
2) Return to Domestic Energy Independence
The first Trump administration showed it is more than possible to become energy independent fast. Practically overnight we went from massive dependence on foreign oil from the Venezuelans and the Middle East to becoming not just self-sufficient—but actually net exporters of hydrocarbon fuels. We can do that again, rapidly. All we have to do is get the ESG profiteers out of the way and allow drillers to drill, allow refineries to refine, and allow pipelines to have product flowing through them.
3) Make Farming/Hunting Great Again
It’s past time to put the government back into its constitutional cage. Farmers and hunters need to be free to grow their own crops and acquire meat for sustenance. As for the latter, a stunning amount of licenses and permits are now required to engage in hunting activities that our ancestors once enjoyed. It’s past time we tell bureaucrats “to mind their own business.” Let’s support our independence with our wallets. Buy produce, meat, and more at a local level from those folks that actually work the land. Stop purchasing from faceless corporations. Invest in small businesses, especially family-owned ones.
4) Restore Military Readiness
Our military has also fallen prey to the ESG/DEI mind virus. It largely stems from a loss of patriotism and desire to serve amongst our youth. The way to overcome this challenge is simple: tell the truth. If young Americans knew their real heritage, they would love their country once again. The current patriotism crisis comes from young people being fed a steady diet of lies. Our current Congress is facilitating what’s happening in the military. If Congress had the political will to fix the problem, it would be a simple matter to do so. The House could pass a military budget that says, “No more money may be used for wokeness, so-called diversity training, and any other demoralizing policy.”
5) Decouple Capitalism From Social Causes
In 2019 at the CEO Roundtable, some of the most powerful business leaders decided making money for shareholders was no longer their priority. Their new goal was to champion environmental and social justice causes for stakeholders. Who are they? Anyone—from investors to board members to customers, vendors, and the public at large. According to Klaus Schwab at the World Economic Forum: “Stakeholder capitalism is about providing value to all these constituents.” But here’s the thing. Values are subjective. What one person believes to be “moral” may vary from person to person. When businesses get in the business of “doing good”, dangers ensue. We get into a situation where “morality” is mandated. Instead, businesses need to get back to making money. This is their real lane. For far too long, they have wrongly veered from it.
*****
We began this discussion with an instructive tale. Let’s end with another.
The Trojan War was bloody. It ruined the Trojans, including their King Priam. He suffered terrible losses to the warrior Odysseus. The Greeks massacred his people. They killed his sons. Then one day, the Greeks showed up with a large,
beautiful wooden horse dedicated to his people’s God.
“It’s a symbol,” the Greeks said. “Of our total surrender.”
By the time he got this offer, King Priam was tired. Tired of war. Tired of death. He wanted to believe the Greeks that this gift really didsignify their surrender. But Priam’s closest advisors warned him not to believe the Greeks’ pretty words—or to use a modern phrase—their virtue signaling.
Priam ignored their warnings. He let his guard down.
What happened? That same night, Odysseus and his men snuck out of the Trojan horse. They killed Priam and massacred his people, destroying Troy.
Behind all the pretty talk, behind all the virtual signaling swirling around ESG, is it really just another Trojan Horse? We’ll leave it to you to decide. For now, let’s use this problem as an opportunity to not just heal our nation but thrive beyond our wildest imaginations.
Personally appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to be Texas' Chairman of the Board of Professional Geoscientists, W. David Prescott, P.G. is president of Amarillo-based Talon LPE. Talon provides environmental consulting and engineering, environmental drilling, and environmental field services. David has been a YPO member since 2014. He’s a 2022 YPO Chapter Founder of West Texas Integrated and is currently working on a PhD in Agricultural Sciences. As a licensed professional geologist in Texas and Wyoming, he’s intimately knowledgeable in all aspects of environmental protection.
Michael Ashley is a former Disney screenwriter and the best-selling author of more than fifty books on many subjects. He just co-authored Neuromined: Triumphing over Technological Tyranny (Fast Company Press) which won the 2024 National Indie Excellence Award for Technology. An in-demand keynoter, he is also an official speaker for Vistage and a columnist for several news outlets. His prolific work has been featured in Fox Sports, Entertainment Weekly, the United Nations' ITU News, The Orange County Business Journal, The Austin Daily Herald, Yahoo! Finance, Huffpost, and The Boston Herald.
