Energy companies led Texas and the nation out of the recession and, even as dropping oil prices have led to cutbacks, remain an important part of the economy. The next debate in the UH Energy Symposium Series, set for Tuesday, Feb. 10, will look at whether and how energy companies address their responsibility to society.
“Private Profit vs. Public Good: Do Energy Companies Have a Social Responsibility?” will focus on whether energy companies fulfill their responsibility to society simply by creating wealth – creating jobs and paying workers – or whether they have an additional social duty because their product is based upon extracting a community resource, something that belongs to society at large.
The debate, which begins at 5:30 p.m. in the UH Student Center South Theater, is free and open to the public, but requires registration in advance. Attendees can RSVP online.
WHAT: UH Energy Symposium Series debate, “Private Profit vs. Public Good: Do Energy
Companies Have a Social Responsibility?”
WHO: Speakers include Badar Kahn, president and CEO of Direct Energy; Aneel Karnani,
associate professor of strategy at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the
University of Michigan and author of “Fighting Poverty Together: Rethinking
Strategies for Business, Governments, and Civil Society to Reduce Poverty;” Nathaniel
Teti, head of sustainability for Statoil in North America, and Kathleen Hartnett White,
director of the Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment at the Texas Public
Policy Foundation and former chairwoman of the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality.
WHEN: 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10
WHERE: UH Student Center South Theater. Parking is available in the Welcome Center garage,
Calhoun Road off Entrance 1.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeannie Kever, 713-743-0778, m-713-504-3769. jekever@uh.edu.