One Redditor recently shared an article in the r/energy forum that sparked frustration and anger.
The Forbes article was titled Fear-Based Myths About Clean Energy Could Make Americans Poorer And Sicker, and it was written by Greg Alvarez, the Deputy Communications Director for Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan climate think tank.
In it, Alvarez described how misinformation about clean energy projects has become rampant, hindering their progress in many states. Unfortunately, he said, this refusal to embrace the clean energy transition isn't only costing Americans money — it's costing them good health, too.
For example, while some people mistakenly believe that wind turbines would be more costly to operate than coal plants, research from Energy Innovation found that 99% of old fossil plants are less economical to operate than replacing them with new local solar or wind projects.
Unfortunately, the pervasive presence of fossil fuel power plants is damaging our health and our wallets. Air pollution, driven by burning fossil fuels — in factories, cars, our homes, and more — is now the second-leading cause of death for children under five, as well as the second largest risk factor for premature death in adults, according to research from the Health Effects Institute.
Yet despite these dangers, people continue to oppose the transition to clean energy. And perhaps the most unsettling detail is that much of the misinformation behind this opposition is circulated by people and groups with a clear economic stake in the fossil fuels industry.
In his article, Alvarez links to several so-called "think tanks" or anti-renewable projects that are funded — or at least supported — by for-profit oil and gas investors and affiliates.
And, as Redditors agreed, it's therefore no surprise that these "research" groups come up with surprisingly one-sided findings. "The plan is working," one person wrote grimly.
Alvarez emphasizes that despite these efforts, people need to be responsible for recognizing them and compensating by combating their own biases. "We've come so far on the engineering side only to run into a problem of the human psyche," he wrote. "We should never accept being made poorer and sicker because of misinformation-filled Facebook memes — there's too much at stake."
And while many Redditors merely expressed anger and frustration, one held on to hope: "Once towns, cities, counties, and states see that other towns, cities, counties and states are making money off [renewables], keeping revenue in their own areas, and no one is dying, then they will come around."
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