Maslow's recommendations for strategic environmentalism

Christoph W. Frei, Director of the Energy Industry & Strategy Departement of the World Economic Forum, recently provoked a controversial debatte on the right strategy to pursue from a environmentalist point of view. His paper "The Kyoto Protocoll - a victim of supply security?" (abstract), which was published in Energy Policy, raised the spectre that energy policy priorities ought be put in a clear hierachical order in a similar way as Maslow once did with his now famous pyramid of needs.

The Argument
The argument goes as follows: energy (policy) needs are not subject to trade-offs but to a hierachry (see below graphic). This implies that lower-ranking energy needs have to be satisfyied first, in this case "access to commercial energy" and, as soon as this is granted, "security of supply". Only if these basic needs of the energy pyramid are given, society will be able to pursue higher ranking goals such as "cost efficieny", "natural resources efficiency" and "social acceptability". The latter three energy policy needs exactly correspond with the three-pillared paradigm of sustainability.

Therefore, a sustainble energy policy can only be achieved if, first, the underlying and more fundamental energy needs have been satisfied. This insight has not been morally justified by Frei. He just "observed" it. But all over this observation has been stated again and again as natural order of things throughout the history. A conclusion out of this historical analysis is that supply security issues will always prevail over ecological concerns, so Frei.


New Strategy for Environmentalists
Based on this view, Frei recommends environmentalists to fundamentally rethink their strategy and then to adopt three action lines:

1. opt for large energy producing cartels (aka OPEC, emerging gas cartel) to control energy prices and facilitate much needed energy investments for the fight against energy poverty
   
2. focus energy-related R&D that focuses on simple energy solutions rather than high-tech capex-heavy technologies such as nuke power and carbon sequestration and storage
   
3. apply free trade rules to energy commerce, especially in the field of biofuels instead promoting inefficient local production of biofuels
   

Frankly, for most environmentalists, quite a new perspective!