Aren't Fossil Fuels Just Dreamy?

In a virtual love letter to oil and gas, Alex Epstein has a post in Forbes about how the People's Climate March is misguided because, really, fossil fuels are great. Apparently, Epstein is the author of a forthcoming book titled, "The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels." He's also President of the "Center for Industrial Progress," a for-profit think-tank. (Yes, you read that correctly, a FOR-profit think-tank, unless the "about" portion of the website's homepage contains a particularly Freudian typo…)

Epstein lists six "facts" about fossil fuels, which imply that all gains in life expectancy, prosperity, air quality, and water availability are entirely thanks to fossil fuel burning. He further suggests that because fossil fuels were beneficial in the past, we should continue using them forever. But that doesn't logically follow. People once found radiation wonderfully futuristic and convenient until we realized it was poison and came up with better alternatives.

Epstein also misrepresents Bill McKibben's views on energy policy, selectively quoting a piece McKibben wrote back in 1998. Epstein claims, "McKibben endorsed a scenario" involving strict fossil fuel rationing, but he dishonestly leaves out the bit where McKibben wrote it was "just for argument's sake."

At the end of the piece, Epstein says he'll be attending the People's Climate March, handing out flyers for his book—which he generously refers to as counter-education instead of advertising—and preaching the gospel of gas.