514. How to Solve All of America’s Energy Problems | Alex Epstein

Though it’s become widely accepted that climate change is real, the questions still remain of what steps we should take to fix the damage and whether they'll be enough. Many scientists and activists believe that the climate has already passed a tipping point and that environmental catastrophe is inevitable. In Apocalypse Never, award-winning science writer Michael Shellenberger says that it’s time to assess the crisis from a rational perspective. He argues that we’re in a much better position to curb climate change than alarmists would have us believe, and that people who bend scientific truth in order to spur environmental action are doing more harm than good.

In this guide, we’ll explain Shellenberger’s argument that environmental alarmists overstate their claims and that there’s ground for hope for our planet’s future. We’ll also look at counter-arguments to Shellenberger’s claims and examine what independent research says about the solutions he suggests. We’ll point to recent developments in industry, agriculture, and the political climate that frame the conversation around climate change.

In The Rational Optimist, science writer and journalist Matt Ridley writes that innovation has been the primary impetus for humanity’s progress and prosperity—driving the advances in technology, culture, and political organization that have made today’s society healthier, wealthier, and safer than any in human history.

Ridley writes that such a cross-pollination of ideas would have been impossible without free trade and the exchange of goods. This is because when we trade goods, we create networks of knowledge that reach beyond local communities and nations—allowing innovators to build upon each other's work.

In this guide, we’ll explore:

• How the exchange of ideas and knowledge has fostered human prosperity
• How trade promotes stable societies
• How our capacity for innovation provides a case for optimism on climate change
• Why free trade is the best way to promote growth and prosperity

We’ll supplement and compare Ridley’s ideas with insights from other writers and thinkers who’ve explored the benefits of trade and free markets, the relationship between capitalism and democracy, and more.

Though it’s become widely accepted that climate change is real, the questions still remain of what steps we should take to fix the damage and whether they'll be enough. Many scientists and activists believe that the climate has already passed a tipping point and that environmental catastrophe is inevitable. In Apocalypse Never, award-winning science writer Michael Shellenberger says that it’s time to assess the crisis from a rational perspective. He argues that we’re in a much better position to curb climate change than alarmists would have us believe, and that people who bend scientific truth in order to spur environmental action are doing more harm than good.

In this guide, we’ll explain Shellenberger’s argument that environmental alarmists overstate their claims and that there’s ground for hope for our planet’s future. We’ll also look at counter-arguments to Shellenberger’s claims and examine what independent research says about the solutions he suggests. We’ll point to recent developments in industry, agriculture, and the political climate that frame the conversation around climate change.

Though it’s become widely accepted that climate change is real, the questions still remain of what steps we should take to fix the damage and whether they'll be enough. Many scientists and activists believe that the climate has already passed a tipping point and that environmental catastrophe is inevitable. In Apocalypse Never, award-winning science writer Michael Shellenberger says that it’s time to assess the crisis from a rational perspective. He argues that we’re in a much better position to curb climate change than alarmists would have us believe, and that people who bend scientific truth in order to spur environmental action are doing more harm than good.

In this guide, we’ll explain Shellenberger’s argument that environmental alarmists overstate their claims and that there’s ground for hope for our planet’s future. We’ll also look at counter-arguments to Shellenberger’s claims and examine what independent research says about the solutions he suggests. We’ll point to recent developments in industry, agriculture, and the political climate that frame the conversation around climate change.

Extreme weather events in the US in recent years have highlighted the growing vulnerability of the power grid. Many believe upgrades are necessary, but the competing interests of fossil fuel and renewable energy supporters make for a bumpy road ahead.

Because green energy can be produced almost anywhere in some form—wind, solar, hydropower, and so on—the shift to renewables will steer power away from countries and firms with exclusive access to fossil fuels. Gaining an edge in technology development is likely to be the most important factor in determining who pulls ahead.

Have you ever wondered how we calculate happiness levels among different countries or the amount of fossil fuels it would take to switch to renewable energy? Have you considered what unemployment numbers and infant mortality rates say about a population? In Numbers Don’t Lie, scientist and economist Vaclav Smil wants to help you understand the world by understanding numbers and statistics. Numbers can help you see the world more clearly, but only if you know what they’re actually saying.

Smil examines commonly used metrics like GDP, vaccination rates, and fertility rates and asks what they say about countries like the US, China, and Japan. He also reviews humanity’s impact on the planet through the energy, transportation, and food sectors. In our guide, we’ll go over these numbers, metrics, and statistics and provide additional scientific and historical context to help you understand the world around you even better.

The Undercover Economist will help you think like an economist without boring you with endless graphs or complex math. By thinking like an economist, you’ll use principles like scarcity, price targeting, the stock market, and game theory to make better decisions every day. By understanding these economic principles, you’ll learn how economics operates in everyday life, why you make the economic decisions that you do, and what happens when these principles break down.

Do you ever get the sense that the world is getting worse over time? In Enlightenment Now, psychologist Steven Pinker says you might be falling prey to psychological biases that are distorting your perception. Because, he argues, things are actually getting better by every measure.

Pinker provides statistics on such factors as health, wealth, equality, human rights, happiness, peace, and freedom, to show that all of those things have improved over time, all around the world. And he says the driving forces of this progress are reason, science, and humanism— values that are derived from the European Enlightenment.

In this guide, we’ll delve into the data Pinker presents to show why he believes humanity is on the path of progress. Throughout, we’ll compare his ideas to those of other scholars, provide counterpoints, and update some of the statistics with more current data.

Though it’s become widely accepted that climate change is real, the questions still remain of what steps we should take to fix the damage and whether they'll be enough. Many scientists and activists believe that the climate has already passed a tipping point and that environmental catastrophe is inevitable. In Apocalypse Never, award-winning science writer Michael Shellenberger says that it’s time to assess the crisis from a rational perspective. He argues that we’re in a much better position to curb climate change than alarmists would have us believe, and that people who bend scientific truth in order to spur environmental action are doing more harm than good.

In this guide, we’ll explain Shellenberger’s argument that environmental alarmists overstate their claims and that there’s ground for hope for our planet’s future. We’ll also look at counter-arguments to Shellenberger’s claims and examine what independent research says about the solutions he suggests. We’ll point to recent developments in industry, agriculture, and the political climate that frame the conversation around climate change.

In The Rational Optimist, science writer and journalist Matt Ridley writes that innovation has been the primary impetus for humanity’s progress and prosperity—driving the advances in technology, culture, and political organization that have made today’s society healthier, wealthier, and safer than any in human history.

Ridley writes that such a cross-pollination of ideas would have been impossible without free trade and the exchange of goods. This is because when we trade goods, we create networks of knowledge that reach beyond local communities and nations—allowing innovators to build upon each other's work.

In this guide, we’ll explore:

• How the exchange of ideas and knowledge has fostered human prosperity
• How trade promotes stable societies
• How our capacity for innovation provides a case for optimism on climate change
• Why free trade is the best way to promote growth and prosperity

We’ll supplement and compare Ridley’s ideas with insights from other writers and thinkers who’ve explored the benefits of trade and free markets, the relationship between capitalism and democracy, and more.

Nuclear energy is getting new attention globally, but it remains a divisive topic in the US. Some people say it’s the best way to meet our energy needs without worsening global warming, while others argue that the risks are too high.

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster is a New York Times best-selling, no-nonsense, apolitical discussion of climate change. Bill Gates's decades of philanthropy inform his writing on the urgent need to curb emissions while still encouraging development. Complementing his empathetic approach to reducing carbon emissions, he uses his experience in the technology industry to highlight the most practical technology-based strategies for reducing global carbon emissions with a straightforward assessment of their challenges and limitations.

While Gates discusses several promising emergent sources of green energy throughout the book, he also stresses the need to reduce emissions quickly. Therefore, this guide focuses on the technologies and strategies he discusses that are most feasible today. For clarity, we’ve broken Gates’s ideas into three categories: the climate problem, its causes, and Gates’s proposed strategies for curbing emissions. This guide supplements Gates’s discussion with commentary on scientific principles, timely examples of the impacts of climate change, and additional data and statistics.

Though it’s become widely accepted that climate change is real, the questions still remain of what steps we should take to fix the damage and whether they'll be enough. Many scientists and activists believe that the climate has already passed a tipping point and that environmental catastrophe is inevitable. In Apocalypse Never, award-winning science writer Michael Shellenberger says that it’s time to assess the crisis from a rational perspective. He argues that we’re in a much better position to curb climate change than alarmists would have us believe, and that people who bend scientific truth in order to spur environmental action are doing more harm than good.

In this guide, we’ll explain Shellenberger’s argument that environmental alarmists overstate their claims and that there’s ground for hope for our planet’s future. We’ll also look at counter-arguments to Shellenberger’s claims and examine what independent research says about the solutions he suggests. We’ll point to recent developments in industry, agriculture, and the political climate that frame the conversation around climate change.