Fact-checker debunks widespread energy myth with readily available info: 'It's absolutely untrue'

There is a persistent and damaging myth that switching to cleaner energy is prohibitively expensive. 

TikToker Aaron HM (@aaronh_m) set the record straight in just a minute with an informative clip from 2022, which cited articles from the BBC and elsewhere. 

@aaronh_m Honestly I could do a 20 minute video debunking this stale ass fossil fuel industry talking point. #climatechange #globalwarming #eco #ecotok #economy #fyp #solar #wind #greentech #renewableenergy #news #goodclimatenews ♬ Money Day - INSTASAMKA

"It's absolutely untrue," the self-described "recovering comedy writer on a hot planet" said in the post. 

Years of research back up his talking points. The BBC article, also from 2022, referenced an Oxford study that reported we could save up to $12 trillion by 2050 by switching to cleaner energy. The findings are partly based on examining historic price data for renewables and nonrenewables. The experts then predicted likely changes, according to the BBC's description. 

Clean energy is still relatively new and improving. Better materials, expanding infrastructure, and greater efficiency rates are helping to lower development expenses. 

"One of the most transformative changes in technology over the last few decades has been the massive drop in the cost of clean energy," Our World in Data's Hannah Ritchie wrote. 

Solar panel prices have plummeted by 90%, onshore wind by 70%, and batteries by greater than 90% — all in the last 10 years, as Ritchie pointed out. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs expects electric vehicle battery prices to fall nearly 50% by 2026. 

Earlier this year, Forbes' Ken Silverstein wrote that "renewables will best fossil fuels over time," despite government policy changes threatening to nix Inflation Reduction Act tax incentives that encourage development. 

A budget bill undoing many of the planet-friendlier programs is being considered in Congress. But because clean energy has prospered in so many states, a complete wipeout of the provisions isn't certain. 

"Fossil fuels are significantly more expensive than renewable sources when considering health and environmental costs," Silverstein wrote. "[President Donald] Trump should, therefore, pass on scrubbing established law."

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And critics who claim that cleaner energy is only growing because of subsidies could levy the same accusation at the dirty fuel industry. The International Monetary Fund reported in 2023 that worldwide fossil subsidies hit a record $7 trillion. 

U.S. subsidies for cleaner projects nearly doubled from 2016 to 2022, when it was $15.6 billion, per Reuters. That same year, U.S. fossil implicit and explicit subsidies were worth $757 billion, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. 

The TikToker also hit on the public health benefit of a quicker switch. NASA has linked air pollution from burning dirty fuels to greater risks for severe weather. The World Health Organization said that 99% of the Earth's people breathe air that doesn't meet its standards. 

"Too expensive compared to what? Losing everything?" Aaron HM said in the clip.

The shift can start at your home. Solar panels can reduce or eliminate your utility bill and avoid the wider energy grid, which is still heavily reliant on dirty fuels.

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