My latest thinking on the world of energy

In this issue:

My latest thinking on the world of energy
This week’s most popular tweets
Article on energy poverty by Vijay Jayaraj

On this week’s Power Hour I share a recent interview of me by Heidi McKillop, a Canadian filmmaker who went from an opponent of the Canadian oil and gas industry to a champion of it. I’m happy to say that she was influenced by The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels.

I haven’t done a wide-ranging interview in a while, and I ended up sharing new thoughts on the world of energy including how to think about our environment, how to stand up to the anti-fossil fuel movement, and the miracle of “machine labor.”

You can watch on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts.

This week’s most popular tweets

I continue to share a lot of talking points on Twitter. Here are three of the most popular from the last week. You may notice that I am increasingly focused on the many ways in which the attempt to eliminate fossil fuels in the US makes us more and more threatened by China.

Article on energy poverty by Vijay Jayaraj

Last year on Power Hour I interviewed Vijay Jayaraj, a young energy researcher based in India, about fossil fuels in India.

Vijay, like Heidi (mentioned in the previous item) is an energy champion I’m happy to have influenced. I particularly liked a recent article of his on energy poverty.

Here are some of my favorite parts.

“India will continue…prioritizing key measures to strengthen domestic gas supply for households. What many in the developed world do not know is that firewood used for household cooking is India’s biggest cause of indoor air pollution and associated deaths.”

“Only in the last three decades have morbidity numbers came down after millions of households transitioned from firewood to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)…’Indoor, or household, air pollution caused 64 per cent fewer deaths in the last two decades (1990-2019).'”

“Gas — a fossil fuel — is literally the difference between good health and sickness in millions of Indian households.
Yet…A recent Biden executive order actively seeks to “promote ending international financing of carbon-intensive fossil-fuel based energy.”
“Experts who researched on air pollution deaths conclude that ‘The full realisation of the social, economic, and health benefits of household air pollution reduction can be achieved by…sustained adoption and limited abandonment of traditional fuels.'”
“India has made significant progress in tackling air pollution deaths so far, thanks to fossil fuels. But the future is uncertain….Biden’s, or anyone’s, policies must be condemned if they interfere with developing countries’ access to fossil fuels.”

Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter. I continue to be motivated by the increasing use of my ideas by energy champions, whether in politics, industry, research, or activism.

I am very happy to be spending the majority of my time on two projects that I am confident will take everything to the next level: my new book (manuscript due March 2!) and creating short, powerful, retainable, well-referenced talking points. In the not-too-distant future there will be talking points, including powerful stories and facts, on every issue imaginable.

Special thanks to my head researcher Steffen Henne, who helps me research and think through the talking points. Perhaps most important, he challenges me when he thinks (or knows) I’m wrong about something.

Oh, and he also was completely indispensable for The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels and is currently working like crazy to make sure everything is right in the new book.

Thanks to our Accelerators who make it possible for me to have a full-time researcher of Steffen’s caliber.

We are just getting started.

To Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Energy,

Alex