Products, fuel, and electricity are the real climate challenges for the future

A global challenge exists today in reconciling the conflict between policies seeking to ensure that society is provided with affordable and reliable products to generate electricity for everyone, while at the same time protecting the environment everywhere.

The sheer scale of humanity's needs today adds urgency to the truism that "quantity has a quality all its own". To feed, shelter, move, educate, and power civilization, humanity acquires and uses some 100 billion tons of earth's natural resources annually.

Barring some unforeseen, catastrophic natural or human-caused disaster, the global population of 8 billion will continue to grow for many decades, especially in lower-income, emerging nations.

Today oil, coal, and natural gas are the basis of over 80% of all global demand for the products and transportation fuels that did not exist before the 1800's.

• Today, policymakers setting "green" and "zero emissions" policies are oblivious to the reality that electricity came about AFTER the discovery of oil. Without oil, there would be no products like wire, insulation, and computers to generate electricity!
• So-called "renewables, ONLY generate electricity but CANNOT make anything. In addition, everything that NEEDS Electricity is made with petrochemicals manufactured from crude oil, coal, or natural gas.

Despite a decline in extreme poverty, broader measures show that of the more than 8 billion living on this planet, Nearly Half the World Lives on Less than $5.50 a Day, as billions still struggle to meet basic needs. To put the above into perspective for the wealthy locations pursuing a clean and green movement:

• California has about 0.4% of the world's population, which means that 99.6% of the 8 billion on this planet live outside of California.
• America has about 4% of the world's population, which means that 96% of the 8 billion on this planet live outside of the USA.

Thus, bogus myths by the few wealthy countries have been created to promote renewables that are supposedly green and kind to the environment, cheap, and will replace fossil fuels.

• All six methods for the generation of electricity from coal, natural gas, hydro, nuclear, wind, and solar are built with the products, components, and equipment that are made from oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil.
• All EV's, solar panels, and wind turbines are also built with the products, components, and equipment that are made from the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil. Without fossil fuels there would be no so-called renewables!
• Everything that needs electricity to function like iPhones, computers, data centers, and X-Ray machines are all made with petrochemicals manufactured from crude oil. Without fossil fuels, there would be nothing that needs electricity!

History and reality suggest a desire for economic growth everywhere which, invariably, leads to the need for more, not less, products and electricity for a growing materialistic society.

There is a very strong correlation, both historically and globally, between access to affordable, reliable electricity, and the realization of safety, comfort, convenience, and beauty-what we call human flourishing. Yet, globally, there is an enormous spread between the per capita consumption in developed nations compared with poorer nations that are developing or still emerging.

Higher fossil fuel costs make products and services more expensive. Income determines a person or family's ability to purchase goods and services, starting with the basics of food, clothing, and shelter, and evolving to plumbing, heating, and cooling. It also determines access to many things citizens in wealthier nations take for granted, such as cars, education, sanitation, healthcare, and leisure.