There Is No Alternative to Ending Fossil Fuel Use (w/ Lorne Stockman)

Current Affairs

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Lorne Stockman is the research co-director at Oil Change International, which is dedicated to exposing the harms caused by fossil fuel use and advocating for a green transition. Today Lorne joins us to rebut some common nonsense conservative talking points on climate change, to explain how a transition to 100% renewable energy can happen, and to give a clear assessment of how much progress we've made so far and how much is left to go. It's a crucial conversation for understanding where we're at in the fight against the climate catastrophe, and you may be surprised to hear that there is actually some good news.

We discuss such topics as:

• Why Vivek Ramaswamy is full of crap when he says that continued fossil fuel use is essential for human prosperity
• Why Vivek Ramaswamy is also full of crap when he suggests that fossil fuel energy can simply be used to cancel out the damage caused by climate change
• Why many other things said about fossil fuels and climate change are also false or misleading
• How far we've come in improving the cost effectiveness of renewable energy sources
• Whether nuclear power has a necessary role in a green transition
• Whether the Inflation Reduction Act is really the boon for climate solutions that it's touted as, and how much it will actually do
• What kinds of fake techno-solutions to climate change we need to be on the lookout for
• What the fossil fuel industry does in the places where its extraction is based, with Lorne discussing his observations in the Permian Basin

Read Lorne's writings for Oil Change International here. A recent article Nathan wrote on the latest phase in climate denial is here. This podcast pairs well with our recent conversation with Current Affairs contributor Jag Bhalla.

"It is abundantly clear that the production and consumption of fossil gas must decline immediately, even if methane reduction goals are met. No amount of wishful thinking about upstream emissions reduction, carbon capture and storage (CCS), gas-based “blue” hydrogen, or whatever the latest magical techno-fix the industry imagines will save it can change this fact." — Lorne Stockman