To the Editor:
What do the Keystone XL Pipeline and U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to bomb Syria have in common? They are both establishment initiatives struggling vainly against a precipitous loss in public trust.
In the case of Obama, he's bleeding public trust from multiple wounds, most recently the embarrassing revelations about illegal NSA eavesdropping that have undermined his credibility. But that's only the most recent disappointment; Obama's credibility has been sinking for a while now. His mantra, change-we-can-believe-in, was probably intended to mean something different to everyone, but it certainly strongly implied that the United States would start to behave lawfully; at a minimum, closing the prisoner of war camp at Guantanamo Bay and fixing the out-of-control banking system while providing more support for the middle class and the poor. As far as public trust is concerned, it's three strikes you're out, Obama.
But the Republicans also bear some responsibility for the loss of public trust. After all, it was the Republican administration of George W. Bush that misled the public on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in 2003. Then Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the U.N. Security Council and declared: "there can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more."
Of course we all know he was wrong: the maps, dossiers and reports he presented were mistaken or probably just cobbled together for the purpose.
It's little wonder that people doubt current Secretary of State John Kerry when he claims to have irrefutable evidence of chemical weapon abuses in Syria. Naturally, he can't make the evidence public, it's top secret: he asks instead for the public's trust but it simply isn't there.
But Obama is not the only leader suffering from trust issues. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's favourite economic development initiative, the Keystone XL pipeline, is encountering official delays, stiffening local resistance and bad press.
The growing public mistrust over the XL pipeline is startling, given the fact that there is a vast network of pipelines in North America already. If we confine ourselves simply to oil pipelines, there are approximately 30,000 to 40,000 miles of relatively small gathering lines, and approximately 55,000 miles of the larger trunk lines.
Nevertheless, last year a group of scientists wrote to Obama linking Keystone to imminent environmental catastrophe and the 'oil sands' to runaway global warming, melting arctic ice and the end of civilization, as we know it.
There was a time - not so long ago - when business had considerable trust equity with the public. In those distant days, industry scientists and the technical reports they produced were considered to be models of rational common sense.
How the world has changed. According to the 2012 Edelman Trust Survey, Energy Industry trust metrics have fallen radically in the past year from 76 per cent to 29 per cent for informed adults, down 46 percentage points. As a result there has been a major loss of trust in the oil business and the scientific community they employ.
This erosion of trust is undermining businesses' License to Lead, increasing commercial friction, seriously complicating project approvals and increasing the costs of doing business.
The philosopher Annette Baier once wrote that trust is like clean air: "We notice it only when it is scarce or polluted." Trust is a two-way street: an individual, company or government is trusted when there is an alignment of values with the public(s) and a belief that the organization can be relied upon to voluntarily do the 'right' thing.
To be trustworthy is to be ethical. According to Graham Dietz, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Durham University in the UK, trustworthiness is founded on a robust ethical culture, supported by leaders, and guided by systems and policies that are designed to nurture strong internal and external trust relationships.
If the fiasco of Richard Nixon has taught us anything, it is that taking the public for granted is suicidal; ethical behaviour is essential. It may be a bit simplistic to say that "trust is the coin of the realm," but in its absence the wheels fall off the machinery of governing.
The risk is very real. If the wheels can fall off the President of the United States, they can fall off business. As public trust diminishes the risk and the costs of doing business are rising precipitously. Beware; business as usual could be fatal.
Robert McGarvey,
Troy Media Corp.
