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The ideas and analyses of Rapid Substitution are the brainchild of Paul Klemencic and his research team.
The founder of Skibo Energy, Klemencic was an oil and gas industry insider for two decades. His energy sector expertise includes 18 years at Chevron Corporation, where he gained particular knowledge about drilling and refining power management solutions, as well as insights into the challenges of adding new oil supply and the stopping and starting of oil production.
In the early 2000s, Paul realized and embraced the need to dramatically and permanently decrease the world’s dependence on oil. He tried to convince management in the oil and gas industries that, for the future health of both their business and the planet, they had to adopt a strategy of social, economic, and political shifts necessary to accomplish that goal. This message was so heretical, it was met with full-fledged resistance.
In 2008, Klemencic left the industry and began applying his technical knowledge of oil production and energy markets to developing the strategy of Rapid Substitution. Combining this theory with his deep knowledge of Edward Deming’s Total Quality Management (TQM) methodology, fueled Klemencic’s passion for pursuing energy solutions that are simultaneously responsible to business, consumers, and our planet.
In 2020, his vision of a customer-first, efficient, reliable renewable energy solution led him to form Skibo Energy, where he is CEO and CFO. He has assembled a team of analysts to work with him on further research, background information, communications, outreach, and implementation of the Rapid Substitution strategy.
The Rapid Substitution team is responsible for this website, the Rapid Substitution Deep Dive document, social media and blog posts, and advocacy work focused on accelerating the energy transition using the Rapid Substitution strategy.
In 2008, Paul began envisioning the powerful social, economic, and political shifts to permanently decrease our world's dependence on oil. His vision of a customer first, efficient, and reliable renewable energy solution led to the formation of Skibo Energy in 2020. Paul’s expertise in the energy sector includes 18 years at Chevron, where he worked on drilling and refining power management solutions. This experience, when combined with his deep knowledge of Edward Deming’s Total Quality Management (TQM) methodology, fueled his passion for pursuing energy solutions that are simultaneously responsible to business, consumers and our planet. As a first-hand witness to the negative effects of the legacy oil industry’s integration into all of our daily life, including our well-being, transportation, and international security, Paul leads Skibo Energy’s commitment towards a society in which every customer has access to energy solutions that address their best interests. Paul has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. You can reach Paul at moc.y1734910175grene1734910175obiks1734910175@kmp1734910175
Harry comes to Skibo Energy with decades of technical and management experience on large software projects for both government and industry customers. Harry began his career with 25 years at a small data communications company focused on high speed hardware and software for Fortune 500 customers. His ability to view both the macro and micro obstacles within systems then led to a successful 15 years at Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute. Throughout his career, Harry has demonstrated a commitment to creating high quality software solutions that are cost-effective and efficient, and his expertise in developing data communications equipment for large data centers directly informs his interest in tackling large systems engineering challenges, like renewable energy. With Skibo Energy, Harry applies these same principles to renewable energy solutions. Harry has a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. You can reach Harry at moc.y1734910175grene1734910175obiks1734910175@llh1734910175
Seth Luxenberg has 6 years of experience in the energy industry. He started his energy career working in frontier offshore oil and gas exploration where he learned the challenges and expenses of bringing a project from discovery to production. Understanding the complexities of the oil industry inspired Seth’s fascination with the social, economic, and political implications of the energy transition. He has degrees from Cornell and Georgetown Universities.
David Bear is presently serving as a Communications Consultant to Rapid Substitution (rapidsubstitution.com). He is also Initial Organizer of the Westinghouse Park 2nd Century Coalition (westinghousepark.org).
Previously, Bear was Travel Editor at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (1998 - 2008), and a Fellow at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University (2009 - 2014), where he conducted the High Point Pittsburgh Investigation and the Pittsburgh Gigapanorama Project.
More recently, Bear was writer/strategist of a now successful effort to win the release of Charles "Zeke" Goldblum from serving a life sentence for a murder he did not commit. This effort resulted in a book "Willful Blindness," a website (freezeke.com), and an active Facebook presence.
Bear was also the producer, host, and creative force behind "The Traveler's Journal," a radio series that ran on more than 50 public radio stations around the country from 1993 to 2003, and its related Web site (travelersjournal.com), which has been active since 1996.
He was founder and principal at American Information Marketing, a communications agency with clients across the country (1989 to 2003), an Account Supervisor at Ketchum, McLeod, and Grove Public Relations (1981 to 1983), and group and charter manager for KD German Rhine Line's sales operation in North America (1973 to 1979).
Bear is a 1970 graduate of Princeton University.
Carver Murphy is a Pittsburgh-based political campaign and issue advocacy consultant. Carver’s experience spans from nonprofit grantmaking, electoral political campaigns, and issue advocacy work. Carver has shown a commitment to taking on big challenges: managing campaigns challenging PA State Senate leadership, defending the Pittsburgh City Council President, and attempting to flip top targeted state legislative races. In 2021, Carver successfully ran the campaign to elect the fifth Black woman ever to the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas. Originally from Reading, PA, Carver has a B.A. in Political Science and B.A. in History from Penn State University.
Andrea Fitting, PhD, started her career as a social scientist working in academia.
She pivoted in the 1980s to become a marketing executive. For the next 30 years she founded and operated a highly respected and successful agency, known as Fitting Group, where she led her team to service a variety of clients from Fortune 500s to small non-profits. The agency was acquired in late 2015. Since then, Dr. Fitting has used her significant experience in behavioral economics, branding, marketing communications and entrepreneurship to consult with and assist select clients.
Andrea holds BA and PhD degrees from the University of Pittsburgh in Anthropology/Archaeology
Skibo Energy is a company full of dedicated professionals intent on being a part of accelerating the energy transition.
How to Accelerate the Energy Transition
