#hottakeoftheday #hottakeoftheday podcast Episode 55 w/Alex Epstein

#hottakeoftheday podcast Episode 55 w/Alex Epstein

Out today is our episode with Alex Epstein, the author of “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels.” If you don’t follow Alex or haven’t read his book, it’s absolutely worth the read.

From the discussion, I totally agree with Alex that the oil, gas and coal industry hasn’t done a good job (or a job at all!) of advocating that not only aren’t fossil fuels bad, but that they are superior to wind and solar because they can exist as a stand alone power grid without back up, and it is always available at the flick of a switch. Humans need energy to live, and if we care about the 3 billion without it, instead of pointing to a flood and saying, “see… climate change”, we can provide the tools to manage them, similar to our coastal cities. Human ingenuity and adaptability is always underestimated.

It wasn’t lost on either of us that the new arena in Seattle that will be sponsored by Amazon and is called “Climate Pledge Arena” is powered, in part by solar… which is interesting given that games are usually played at night.

He is thoughtful, well spoken and if I dare say, pretty brilliant.

#hottakeoftheday podcast Episode 55 w/Alex Epstein

Audio Podcast

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About Alex Epstein

Alex Epstein is a philosopher who argues that “human flourishing” should be the guiding principle of industrial and environmental progress.

He founded Center for Industrial Progress (CIP) in 2011 to offer a positive, pro-human alternative to the Green movement.

Epstein is the author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels (Penguin, 2014), a New York Times bestseller arguing that if we look at the whole picture, human flourishing requires that humanity use more fossil fuels not less. (WSJ review here.) The book has been widely praised as the most persuasive argument ever made for our continuing use of fossil fuels, winning Epstein the “Most Original Thinker of 2014” award from The McLaughlin Group.

Epstein, known for his willingness to debate anyone, anytime, has publicly debated leading environmentalist organizations such Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, and 350.org over the morality of fossil fuel use.

He has made his moral case for fossil fuels at dozens of campuses, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Duke (his alma mater). He has also spoken to employees and leaders at dozens of Fortune 500 energy companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Phillips 66, Valero, Enbridge, and TC Energy.

In his speeches and consulting work he helps companies take his pro-human messaging and use it to neutralize attackers, turn non-supporters into supporters, and turn supporters into champions. One of his major goals is to teach millions of employees in the fossil fuel industry to understand the value of what they do and how to communicate it.

If you’re interested in having Alex Epstein speak to your audiences, you can learn more here.

Dialogue

00:00 – 09:00: Intro & background; logical thinking, Thomas Sowell, Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, evaluation standards to decision making, relationship with nature, energy poverty

09:00 – 20:00: Human-centric development, Michael Shellenberger, Apocalypse Never, Alex Epstein podcast, clarifying values, climate change, catastrophism, nuclear power

20:00 – 29:00: Consumers and demand, anti-fossil fuel movement, rising CO2 and adaptive capabilities, anti-human impact framework, Thanos as environmentalist

29:00 – 34:30: Sustainability, Perfect Planet Premise, Anti-impact framework

34:30 – 40:00: ESG movement, Sustainability = non-hydrocarbon (and non-nuclear), renewable revolution, long-term value

40:00 – 51:00: Moral Monopolies, fossil fuels vs renewables, “unreliables”

51:00 – 59:00: Capitalism vs Communism, systemic changes and challenges, book updates, election messaging

59:00 – 68:30: COVID-19 response reactions, catastrophe models