Could everything we know about fossil fuels be wrong?
For decades, environmentalists have told us that using fossil fuels is a
self-destructive addiction that will destroy our planet. Yet at the same
time, by every measure of human well-being, from life expectancy to
clean water to climate safety, life has been getting better and better.
How can this be?
The explanation, energy expert Alex Epstein argues in The Moral Case
for Fossil Fuels, is that we usually hear only one side of the story.
We're taught to think only of the negatives of fossil fuels, their risks
and side effects, but not their positives--their unique ability to
provide cheap, reliable energy for a world of seven billion people. And
the moral significance of cheap, reliable energy, Epstein argues, is
woefully underrated. Energy is our ability to improve every single
aspect of life, whether economic or environmental.
If we look at the big picture of fossil fuels compared with the
alternatives, the overall impact of using fossil fuels is to make the
world a far better place. We are morally obligated to use more fossil
fuels for the sake of our economy and our environment.
Drawing on original insights and cutting-edge research, Epstein argues
that most of what we hear about fossil fuels is a myth. For instance . .
.
Myth Fossil fuels are dirty.
Truth The environmental benefits of using fossil fuels far outweigh
the risks. Fossil fuels don't take a naturally clean environment and
make it dirty; they take a naturally dirty environment and make it
clean. They don't take a naturally safe climate and make it dangerous;
they take a naturally dangerous climate and make it ever safer.
Myth Fossil fuels are unsustainable, so we should strive to use
"renewable" solar and wind.
Truth The sun and wind are intermittent, unreliable fuels that
always need backup from a reliable source of energy--usually fossil
fuels. There are huge amounts of fossil fuels left, and we have plenty
of time to find something cheaper.
Myth Fossil fuels are hurting the developing world.
Truth Fossil fuels are the key to improving the quality of life for
billions of people in the developing world. If we withhold them, access
to clean water plummets, critical medical machines like incubators
become impossible to operate, and life expectancy drops significantly.
Calls to "get off fossil fuels" are calls to degrade the lives of
innocent people who merely want the same opportunities we enjoy in the
West.
Taking everything into account, including the facts about climate
change, Epstein argues that "fossil fuels are easy to misunderstand and
demonize, but they are absolutely good to use. And they absolutely need
to be championed. . . . Mankind's use of fossil fuels is supremely
virtuous--because human life is the standard of value and because using
fossil fuels transforms our environment to make it wonderful for human
life."