The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels

Ash Ryan said Giving thanks where thanks are due. It's appropriate that I'm writing this review on Thanksgiving, a holiday in celebration of an abundant harvest. I think the author would approve. As The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels amply demonstrates, the predominately fossil fuel-powered energy industry is perhaps the most productive, life-giving industry of all. Energy is that important, underlying and making possible all the other varied industries that improve our lives in so many ways, from transportation to communication to an agricultural industry able to feed a global population of over seven billion people better than most people have ever been fed. It enables me to wri. Another "must read" Probably one of the most important recent books written. Excellent book and I can't speak highly enough of it. To say that it is simply a book about global warming or even the larger energy debate is to diminish the importance of this book. Although that is the topic of the book and I don't want to take away from that. This book is one of the best books on that issue and for if that is your main concern then this book does fit that bill and will teach you more than you ever thought you would know about those subjects. However the way he does it makes this book much more far reaching. He not only deals with (and destroys) the sub. If you evaluate things as good or evil based on their net value to human life Then cheap, reliable and scalable energy is profoundly good. The author makes a compelling argument that the development of such energy is the foundation of industrial progress. And turns each of us into "superman", amplifying our abilities a hundredfold or more.Fossil fuels power 87% of the world. The past 20 years has seen billions of people lifted out of crippling poverty. Lifted by the introduction of electricity and machines powered by fossil fuels.This is an overwhelmingly positive value to human life. What about the negatives of fossil fuel use? What about the forecasts of catastrophic climate change? Or the immediate rea

"If you want to see the power of fine logic, fine writing, and fine research, read Epstein's book." ---Patrick J. Michaels, director, Center for the Study of Science, Cato Institute

We are morally obligated to use more fossil fuels for the sake of our economy and our environment.Drawing on original insights and cutting-edge research, Epstein argues that most of what we hear about fossil fuels is a myth. They don’t take a naturally safe climate and make it dangerous; they take a naturally dangerous climate and make it ever safer.Myth: Fossil fuels are unsustainable, so we should strive to use “renewable” solar and wind.Truth: The sun and wind are intermittent, unreliable fuels that always need backup from a reliable source of energy—usually fossil fuels. We’re taught to think only of the negatives of fossil fuels, their risks and side effects, but not their positives—their unique ability to provide cheap, reliable energy for a

Alex lives in California. He is a regular columnist at Forbes, and he has been published in the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Investor's Business Daily, among others. He is a regular columnist at Forbes, and he has been published in the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Investor's Business Daily, among others. Alex lives in California.Alex Epstein is founder of the Center for Industrial Progress and the a