https://alexepstein.substack.com/p/the-energy-freedom-platform?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
By Alex Epstein
The root of our global energy crisis is Green Energy Fascism—the idea that government should have total control over the energy industry (fascism) used for the “green” goal of rapidly eliminating fossil fuels and nuclear.
The solution is Energy Freedom—the idea that individuals should be free to produce and consume energy how they judge best, provided they follow laws protecting everyone from truly harmful emissions and dangerous practices.
There is no inevitability whatsoever to today’s energy crisis.
In fact, if we replace Green Energy Fascism with Energy Freedom policies, America can lead the world in producing low-cost, reliable, plentiful, and cleaner energy—enriching ourselves and billions around the world.
The Opportunity
Human beings’ knowledge of how to produce energy in a way that is low-cost, reliable, and plentiful has never been greater. And we can do it in ever-cleaner ways.
As the world’s leading economy and energy producer, America can lead a global energy renaissance.
The Problem
Even though the world could be in an energy renaissance, it is instead in an energy crisis—with skyrocketing costs and declining reliability around the world.
Europe fears industrial collapse and citizens freezing this winter. Poorer regions fear literal starvation.1
The Cause
The direct cause of our unnecessary energy crisis is simple: governments around the world have restricted the supply of energy through anti-fossil-fuel, anti-nuclear policies. When demand outstrips supply, energy prices rise—which causes all other prices to rise.
The Root Cause
The reason that governments have been able to get away with anti-fossil-fuel, anti-nuclear policies is that they have used the pretext of climate apocalypse to justify Green Energy Fascism—total government control over the energy industry to achieve “green” goals.
Today’s energy policy is fascist.
Economically, “fascism” means: unlimited control of govt over private industry.
Our leaders exercise such control by using mandates, subsidies, prohibitions, and ESG rules to dictate the behavior of energy producers and energy consumers.
Using energy fascism to achieve “green” goals makes a terrible policy far worse.
“Green” = “minimal impact.” Since all energy impacts nature, all energy can be opposed as not “green.”
In practice, “green” energy means, disastrously: oppose everything but unreliable solar and wind.
The pretext of Green Energy Fascism is “climate emergency.” But:
- While humans impact climate, there is no emergency; in fact we’re safer than ever from climate.
- Trying to lower CO2 emissions by favoring unreliable solar/wind and punishing nuclear is wildly ineffective.
While “climate change”—humans impacting climate—is real, “climate emergency” is not. The world is slowly becoming warmer—at a cold point in geological history, when many more people die of cold than of heat. This doesn’t at all justify rapidly restricting global fossil fuel use.2
Fossil fuels actually overall make us far safer from climate by providing low-cost energy for the amazing machines that protect us against storms, protect us against extreme temperatures, and alleviate drought. Climate disaster deaths have decreased 98% over the last century.3
The only practical way to lower CO2 emissions long-term is to make low-carbon energy globally cost-competitive.
Green Energy Fascism policies of dictating the energy industry in favor of unreliables against nuclear—the most proven low-carbon form of energy—are unjustifiable.
Green Energy Fascism not only ruins energy via dictatorial, anti-fossil-fuel/anti-nuclear control of industry, but also via “green” hostility to all development. Every aspect of energy is held back by “green” policies—including the massive mining and development solar and wind require.4
America and the world need an energy policy that ensures plenty of fossil fuel energy and fosters cost-competitive low-carbon alternatives like nuclear—making energy increasingly lower-cost, more reliable, more plentiful, cleaner, and lower-carbon.
That policy is Energy Freedom.
The Energy Freedom Solution
America can enrich itself and empower billions with policies that free human ingenuity to produce energy in as low-cost, reliable, plentiful, and clean way as possible—while protecting us against harmful emissions and dangerous practices.
The 5 steps to Energy Freedom are:
1. Liberate responsible development
2. End preferences for unreliable electricity
3. Reform air/water emissions standards to incorporate cost-benefit analysis
4. Reduce long-term CO2 emissions via liberating innovation
5. Decriminalize nuclear
1. Liberate responsible energy development
Anti-development policies prevent every form of energy from reaching its potential—from natural gas to nuclear to solar. Liberating responsible development throughout America will create unprecedented energy abundance and progress.
2. End preferences for unreliable electricity
Today’s electric grids are being ruined by systemic preferences for unreliable electricity, which causes prices to rise and reliability to decline.
Eliminating them can help make America a leader in low-cost, reliable electricity.5
3. Reform air/water emissions standards based on proper cost-benefit analysis.
Today’s Environmental Protection Agency does huge harm to prosperity and health via energy-crippling emissions standards that fail any reasonable cost-benefit analysis.
Such analysis will lead to more energy and better health.
4. Reduce CO2 emissions long-term through liberating innovation, not punishing America.
The only reasonable way to reduce CO2 emissions long-term is innovation that makes low-carbon energy globally cost-competitive. Punishing US emissions is senseless self-destruction.
5. Decriminalize nuclear energy
The overregulation of low-carbon nuclear verges on criminalization, making nuclear costs 10X higher than they need to be. Decriminalizing nuclear, including radical reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection Agency, will make energy far cheaper, safer, and cleaner.6
Despite the fact that Green Energy Fascism policies are causing a global crisis, our leaders just passed a bill that should be called the Green Energy Fascism Act because it increased government control over energy, further punished fossil fuels, and did nothing to liberate nuclear.7
This Fall, Congressional and gubernatorial candidates have the opportunity to do the right thing and win over voters by rejecting this Administration and Congress’s green energy fascism, and embracing Energy Freedom.
Americans rightly want cheap energy and prosperity back.
If you are a candidate/official who wants to incorporate Energy Freedom policies in your platform, please feel free to reach out to me (alex at alexepstein dot com). I regularly help dozens of offices with messaging and policy, free of charge, and am always happy to help pro-freedom candidates from any party.
