by Alex Epstein, Energy Talking Points:
With Hurricane Ian, the media have once again put forward the narrative that fossil fuels make extreme weather danger worse—and that fossil fuel supporters like Governor Ron Desantis are to blame.
With Hurricane Ian, the media have once again put forward the narrative that fossil fuels make extreme weather danger worse—and that fossil fuel supporters like Governor Ron Desantis are to blame.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
Nothing could be further from the truth.
- Myth 1: The world is experiencing unprecedented danger from extreme weather thanks to fossil fuels.Truth: The world is experiencing unprecedented safety from extreme weather thanks to fossil fuels—because fossil fuels’ climate mastery benefits overwhelm any negative climate side-effects.1
- Myth 2: The media and its designated experts are accurately reporting on fossil fuels and extreme weather.Truth: The media and its “experts” are:
1. totally ignoring how fossil fuels make us safer than ever from extreme weather
2. wildly overstating fossil fuels’ negative impact on weather. - Myth 3: The effect of fossil fuels on extreme weather danger is solely negative.Truth: Not only can warming from fossil fuels have significant benefits (fewer cold deaths) but the low-cost energy fossil fuels provide for billions gives us an unprecedented ability to master extreme weather.
- Fossil fuels have made us far safer from extreme weather by providing low-cost energy for the amazing machines that protect us against storms, protect us against extreme temperatures, and alleviate drought. Deaths from extreme weather have decreased 98% over the last century!2
- Myth 4: We don’t need fossil fuels to protect ourselves from extreme weather—we can just use alternatives.Truth: As Europe is illustrating, there is no near-term replacement for fossil fuels for the 1/4 of the world that uses abundant energy—let alone the 3/4 of the world that doesn’t.3
- Fossil fuels will for decades remain uniquely able to provide low-cost, reliable energy to billions. That’s why fossil fuels are 80% of world energy and still growing.Restricting fossil fuel use means far less energy for climate mastery activities such as heating, cooling, and irrigation.4
- Myth 5: The media and its designated experts are accurately reporting the scientific linking of fossil fuel use and hurricanes.Truth: This “reporting” is riddled with
1. deliberate misrepresentations (e.g., hurricane frequency)
2. biases (e.g., only reporting negative links) - Myth 6: Media claims about increasing hurricane frequency are accurate.Truth: Leading media outlets have deliberately misrepresented the flat long-term hurricane trend. E.g., the New York times cherry-picking a starting point—the low point of 1980—to make a flat trend seem upward.5
- Leading media outlets have also deliberately ignored statements by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change about how any increases in hurricane frequency in records are likely due to increasing reporting, not actual frequency.6
Read More @ alexepstein.substack.com
