Last summer, the National Petroleum Council issued a report titled “Facing the Hard Truths about Energy.” The 380-page study, which was put together under the direction of former ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond, included the work of 350 contributors (two-thirds of whom came from outside the oil and gas field) who availed themselves of the expertise of more than 1,000 third parties involved in the energy sector. The findings? If the world is going to meet the energy demands of 2030, it will require Herculean efforts from both private and public actors. How realistic is the study’s assessment of the future? How reliable is the policy blueprint being forwarded? Joseph Caggiano and David Bellman–both of whom helped put the report together–will discuss the study’s findings, and Richard Gordon–winner of an outstanding lifetime achievement award from the International Association for Energy Economics (1992)-will provide an independent assessment.