The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels

By Alex Epstein

Is humanity’s continuing—and expanding—use of fossil fuels a moral choice or an immoral choice? To answer this question, we need to be clear on our standard of value—our metric of good and bad—in energy and environmental issues.

At SHALE INSIGHT^TM 2016, September 21-22 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh these issues and countless others will be explored in-depth with industry thought leaders from both the public and private sector.

As a SHALE INSIGHT^TM 2016 keynote speaker, I will discuss why it’s important to maximize human flourishing by carefully looking at the benefits, risks and side effects of all our alternatives. I believe the fossil fuel industry has a unique ability to meet our energy needs:

• There are 7 billion people in the world who need cheap, plentiful, reliable energy to flourish. Some 3 billion have virtually no energy by our standard, which means we need vastly more energy.
• The fossil fuel industry produces more than 80 percent of the world’s power. It is the only industry that knows how to produce cheap, plentiful, reliable energy for electricity, transportation and heating on a scale of billions.
• Since the energy industry is the industry that powers every other industry, the fossil fuel industry increases productivity and prosperity in every area of life, from agriculture to hospitals (24/7 electricity).
• For these reasons, any restriction on fossil fuel use would do devastating damage. This must be factored into all policy debates over restricting fossil fuels to reduce CO² or other byproducts.

Our society’s lack of a clear, pro-human, full-context framework for thinking about energy is leading to disastrous, anti-fossil-fuel policies that are harming millions and soon billions.

To learn more about these topics and much more register for SHALE INIGHT^TM 2016 by visiting ShaleInsight.com.

Joseph Barone
www.ShaleDirectories.com