The Patriot Post® · Fossil Fuels Save Lives
If a Democrat is president, it must mean that fossil fuels are under attack again. And sure enough, they are.
We’ve long heard the dubious claim that fossil fuels cause climate change, but there’s a new push to make us believe the fossil fuel industry is harming the climate and our health. The Lancet has published its 2022 report claiming that human health is being affected adversely due to our reliance on fossil fuels.
According to NBC News, “The report accuses fossil fuel purveyors — and the governments that subsidize them — of subverting ‘efforts to deliver a low carbon, healthy, livable future.’”
The report’s executive summary makes this strange claim: “Millions of people do not have access to the energy needed to keep their homes at healthy temperatures, preserve food and medication, and meet the seventh Sustainable Development Goal (to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all).”
Who knew there even was such a thing as a seventh Sustainable Development Goal?
Regardless, it’s clear that many of the report’s contributors haven’t been paying attention to the fact that we’re already living in a healthy, livable society. The world they claim is possible only if nations embrace climate change policy is already here. And it’s all thanks to the fossil fuel industry that’s lifted millions out of poverty, raised our national and global standard of living, and enabled us to live happier, healthier lives than we ever could have imagined. If solar and wind power were viable alternatives, countries around the world would be embracing and implementing those technologies. But they’re not. Coal, oil, and natural gas are the preferred fuels for nations seeking to expand their economies and industries and create the benefits currently enjoyed by nations built on fossil fuels.
As energy expert Alex Epstein writes: “Alternatives such as solar and wind have been fiercely trying to compete with fossil fuels for over 50 years, and yet fossil fuels still provide 80% of the world’s energy — four times as much as every alternative combined. And, despite calls to do otherwise, global fossil fuel use is growing fast. China and India, for example, have 288 new coal plants with a combined capacity of over 300 [gigawatts] in development as of January 2022.”
Epstein adds: “Just as human beings cannot function without sufficient food to power them, machines, whether automobiles, iPhones or steel furnaces, cannot function without sufficient ‘food’ — energy. The essential value of energy and machines to human flourishing is that they amplify and expand our naturally meager productive ability — our ability to produce the material values we need to survive and flourish, from food to clothing to shelter to medical care to education.”
Elsewhere, Epstein has said, “We have a 98% decline in climate-related disaster deaths over the last 100 years.” Thanks to fossil fuels.
As for those who’ve been told that fossil fuels are our enemy, data suggests that these much-maligned fuels actually produce cleaner water and air due to emerging technologies filtering out pollutants. In addition, societies built on fossil fuels are much better prepared to deal with natural disasters.
Just when it seemed that alternative energy was gaining steam, geopolitical events reminded us why we need to pump the brakes. When Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines were sabotaged last month, European nations scrambled to make up for the lost energy supply. Solar and wind power can’t possibly keep Europeans warm this winter, so Germany and France are looking to nuclear energy to make up the difference. And in the UK, where efforts to restore fracking were halted, Brits were left to worry about how they’ll keep warm this winter.
Even the most committed of climate change true believers realize that the benefits of fossil fuels far outweigh the negatives. “Human health and welfare have improved markedly,” writes Samantha Gross at the Brookings Institution, “and the global population has increased from 1 billion in 1800 to almost 8 billion today. The fossil fuel energy system is the lifeblood of the modern economy. Fossil fuels powered the industrial revolution, pulled millions out of poverty, and shaped the modern world.”
It’s time to start recognizing the reality that fossil fuels have powered our civilization and created the standard of living we enjoy today. Green technologies? Not so much. Thus, if climate change is real, there’s only one way to make sure we can thrive no matter what nature throws our way: fossil fuels.