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Fossil fuel sales are spreading across college campuses. Just recently, students at the University of Washington staged a sit-in to demand that the university exit its fossil fuel holdings. Last year, Harvard University, which has the nation’s largest fossil fuel endowment, announced plans to exit the fossil fuel industry after protests from student groups.
Moving away from fossil fuels seems like a great idea for young climate-sensitive activists. That is until I explain the details and results.
The fossil sector sales movement and its supporters have no real plans for the aggressive clean energy transition they propose. Not only does fossil fuels still provide 60% of U.S. energy, but a new report from the American Petroleum Institute says the industry supports nearly 11 million jobs for him and contributes more than 7% of U.S. GDP. is shown.
50 Blue State mayors call for offshore wind moratorium over whale and dolphin deaths
Advocating the dismantling of entire industries in the coming decades also means losing economic opportunity and quality of life for more than 330 million Americans.
An unrealistic transition away from fossil fuels can cause widespread problems. (Photographer: Jim R. Bounds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
President Joe Biden also acknowledged in his 2023 State of the Union address that fossil fuels won’t run out anytime soon. Producing energy from fossil fuels in the cleanest and most environmentally friendly way possible, instead of pursuing unrealistic divestments that do great damage to the energy security of our communities and our nation, while at the same time promoting the use of renewable energy. Priority should be given to increasing production.
This is personal to me. My home state of Texas leads the nation in fossil fuel revenues, contributing over $450 billion to the state economy. I grew up in Houston. In Houston, the energy industry is the lifeblood of the city and its residents, whether or not they are directly employed by it. A widespread withdrawal from the fossil fuel industry would economically ruin not only Houston, but countless other communities across the country.
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Even more surprisingly, the country’s second-largest oil and gas economy is none other than California. The oil and gas industry contributes $217.1 billion to the state economy, which would be difficult to deduce from California’s planned renewable energy stance overall. This is just further proof that moving away from fossil fuels, even in bright blue states, is an unrealistic big mistake.
Perhaps more importantly, eliminating this industry here in the United States will not reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
Advocating the dismantling of entire industries in the coming decades also means losing economic opportunity and quality of life for more than 330 million Americans.
America’s oil and gas industry produces energy that meets the highest environmental standards and is close to the lowest carbon intensity in the world. Fossil fuels won’t go away even if our major institutions move away from them, handicapping the industry. Other countries will simply produce fossil fuel energy in a dirtier way.
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This is not to say that clean energy, or the energy transition as a concept, is not important. We must prioritize clean energy sources, but we must do so with a pragmatic mindset. We need an approach to all of the above that balances reliability, affordability, abundance, and cleanliness.
The fundamental conclusion here is that we cannot afford to sacrifice energy security and economic prosperity for climate action without a follow-through plan. Clean energy should remain a priority in the years to come, but not at the expense of prosperity and America’s economic dominance.
