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Watch: Alex Epstein: Fossil Fuels are Not Mankind’s Enemy

IllinoisChannelTV

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January 20, 2020 – The international debate over the issue of climate change, with many arguing that carbon emissions are damning the planet to an overheated future, or even some argue the collapse of life on the planet. But others argue these claims are based more on fear than facts, and pushed by individuals with an economic interest in doing so, and by nations who would wish to damage the US economy and weaken its position as a global leader in the economy, in military effectiveness, and in our position of global leadership.
To hear the other side of the story, on what’s good about fossil fuels, we speak with author Alex Epstein, who published “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels” in 2016. Epstein notes that only with fossil fuels has mankind been able to escape the drudgery of manual labor that had been the lot of humanity since its beginning. Beginning around 1840, with the invention of the steam engine, which could then power boats and lead to the development of railroads across the nation — mankind could have an alternative of moving massive amounts of grains and other goods without having to rely on horses pulling wagons or boats streaming on rivers.
And the fuel that made that steam engine work, was coal. With the electric lighting of cities in the 1880s, the development of the automobile, the explosion of powered tractors, combines, telephones, airplanes — all transformed society for the better and all were made possible due to fossil fuels that provided the means to produce the electricity, drive the tractors and fuel the nation’s ability to drive where and when they wished. Epstein notes that other developments — like air-conditioning, allowed older citizens an escape from the summer heat and humidity that killed the elderly in previous summers.
Fossil fuels also lead to explosive growth in our ability to farm far more acres, feed not only our own citizens but export billions of dollars worth of feed and food to other nations to feed their citizens — and it was all possible, where it had not been before, says Epstein… because of the reliability, and affordable fuels found in oil, natural gas and coal. It is, he says… the very reason he argues there is a Moral Case to make on behalf of the continued use of fossil fuels. Politics, Personalities, Policies and business developments!
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