According to Megan B. Bloomgren, senior vice president of communications at API, false perceptions of the impact of fossil fuels on the environment versus "energy realities" are myriad.
"There's a perception from some policymakers that the U.S. is driving climate challenges, and that slowing or stopping the use of the natural gas and oil that industry makes is something that will avert a climate crisis," Bloomgren said. "We have an administration that's made climate change the centerpiece of the domestic and international agenda."
Even before he spoke, there could be no speculation about which side of the climate crisis debate author Alex Epstein falls on: "I [heart] fossil fuels," his bright green T-shirt proclaimed.
Addressing the 23rd World Petroleum Congress held recently in Houston, Epstein, author of "The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels" and founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, noted that the U.S. is responsible for one-sixth of the world's declining CO2 emissions.
"If we totally destroy ourselves, it really doesn't do anything, globally. That's an important argument, but I think what's going on is that people's perception of the fossil fuel industry is a planet-destroying evil that should be rapidly eliminated," he said. "We really need to take this seriously if we regard this industry as valuable."
Robert Bryce, author of "A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations," said he agrees with Epstein's assessment about "evil."
"The reason it's so hard to get past this perception is because it is fundamentally a religious debate about this idea of us sinning and we somehow have to seek redemption," Bryce said, adding that theologians sometimes talk about a "fall from grace" when it comes to hydrocarbons.
"There's this idea that we've sinned against Earth, we have to get right with Earth, and that 'Earth is god.'"
Environmentalism endorses, Bryce said, a "return to the Garden, to more earth-based and biology-based, to nature-based solutions.'"
The rise of environmentalism has occurred at the same time as the dramatic decline in both Western Europe and the U.S. in the number of people who go to church, Bryce said. "There is a radical decline in the amount of people who identify themselves as religious," he stated.
Perception versus reality
Epstein shared several core concepts he believes need to be addressed to reverse these "wrong but substantial" perceptions. One, he said, is the idea that fossil fuels don't have any real benefits because they can be rapidly replaced by renewables.
"I don't care whether it's wind or solar-abatement or biofuels - they all are terrible and they can't scale," Bryce added. Another concept to address is that lowcost, reliable energy isn't that valuable.
"Even if people believe that wind will make things more expensive, it's not that big of a deal. It's nothing compared to the livability of the planet," Epstein said. "There's this view that low-cost, reliable energy isn't really that important. The truth is, in fact, that the only reason the planet is livable is because of low-cost, reliable energy. Without low-cost, reliable energy, the planet is very deficient and a dangerous place, and with [low-cost energy], it's an abundant and safe place."
Another false perception, Epstein said, is that the use of fossil fuels is causing climate catastrophe.
"My view on that is it's demonstrably false, so far," Epstein said. "If you look at the numbers in terms of how many people died from climate or climate-related disaster, they have decreased 98 percent in the last century, and the reason is pretty clear. Yes, we have had a warming impact; it's warmed by about a degree in the past 170 years."
"But the real thing is," Epstein continued, "we use fossil fuels to master the climate so we can alleviate drought, heat buildings, build infrastructure, etc.
"It is controversial, but I think it's true that we're actually experiencing a climate renaissance. That is, we've never been safer from climate, ever, and fossil fuels get the credit."
"We can talk about perception all day long, but the reality is that there are a lot of countries where the people are facing desperate energy poverty," Bryce concluded. "We don't talk as much about that as we should."
