Energy, to Everyone’s Benefit
Mary Schaper
Posted February 12, 2015
A Valentine for Fossil Fuels
The Boston Globe (Jeff Jacoby, excerpted) :… Here on Planet Earth, the booming use of petroleum, coal, and natural gas has fueled an almost inconceivable amount of good. All human technologies generate costs as well as benefits, but the gains from the use of fossil fuels have been extraordinary. The energy derived from fossil fuels, economist Robert Bradley Jr. wrote last spring in Forbes, has “liberated mankind from wretched poverty; fueled millions of high-productivity jobs in nearly every business sector; been a feedstock for medicines that have saved countless lives; and led to the development of fertilizers that have greatly increased crop yields to feed the hungry.” Far from wrecking the planet, the harnessing of carbon-based energy makes it safer and more livable.
The rise of fossil fuels has led to dramatic gains in human progress — whether that progress is measured in terms of life expectancy, income, education, health, sanitation, transportation, or leisure. Nearly everything that is comfortable and convenient about modern civilization depends on the ready availability of energy, and nearly 90 percent of our energy comes from oil, gas, and coal. Pro-divestment activists know better than to push people to give up electricity, air travel, computers, or central heating — all of which would vanish without the fossil fuel industry. Instead they demonize the industry, reasoning that it will be easier to turn Big Oil into a pariah than to convince the public to abandon its cars and smartphones.
Read more: http://bit.ly/1KPQnIJ
More industry news:
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Video: Breaking Up with Fossil Fuels is Hard to Do: http://bit.ly/1zaWnq1
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EIA: U.S. Crude Oil Production Will Approach Record Level in 2016: http://bit.ly/1AffHIt
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Game Change: U.S. Oil Revolution Has Torn Up the Rule Book: http://atfp.co/16YPzUM
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Study: Gas Pipeline Would Save North Carolina Energy Consumers $134 Million Per Year: http://bit.ly/1KPKrPT
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After Six Years, Congress Confronts Obama with Keystone Pipeline Bill: http://bit.ly/1E57Hau
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Gerard: U.S. Should Lift Export Ban: http://bit.ly/1Aft63t
About The Author
Mary Schaper is a Digital Communications Manager for the American Petroleum Institute. She previously worked on Capitol Hill for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee as Digital Director and for Senator Lisa Murkowski. Before coming to D.C., she spearheaded digital strategy for Murkowski's successful Senate write-in campaign in 2010. Schaper enjoys traveling and taking in the local culture alongside her husband, their son and loyal springer spaniel.