Fossil Fools
Industry Continues to Play Government and the Public for Fools
This piece was first published in The Hill.
Consider how our world powers its economies: We dig up fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) and burn them. The air pollution alone causes millions of deaths, and the heat-trapping emissions overheat the planet, resulting in sea-level rise, heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods, and other extreme weather events. The companies that produce these fuels take advantage of a pernicious business model that allows them to pollute for free, pass the costs of all the damages onto the public, as well as use their financial and political power to perpetuate their lucrative enterprise.
To be fair, there’s no question that cheap abundant fossil fuels powered the industrial revolution and improved the livelihoods of people around the world. Initially, the environmental impact appeared insignificant. Then scientists noticed that greenhouse gases from fossil fuels were not dissipating but were accumulating in the atmosphere.
