The Institute for Energy Research released a report Tuesday detailing some of the pitfalls and threats posed by the environmentalist “keep it in the ground” campaigns.
“Cutting off access to the very resources that power our economy will not only raise energy costs, but also the costs of everyday products that make modern life possible for American families,” states a report from the IER titled “Exploring the Dangers of the Keep it in the Ground Campaign.”
According to the report, the keep-it-in-the-ground policy does damage to the overall economy, damages public health, threatens national security, and replaces “what works for what doesn’t.”
The group’s report included data showing the lopsided ratio of fossil fuel usage in the U.S. to renewable energy sources. Fossil fuel energy made up more than 81 percent of all energy consumption in the U.S. in 2015, according to the report.
The group also warns that there may be more unknown threats on the horizon.
The fossil free crusaders plan to jettison all fossil fuels from society, the report notes, “will lower the quality of life for every American—especially the poor and middle class, who can least afford these higher costs.”
The group also suggested that many of the environmental regulations the “keep it in the ground” crusaders advocate lack benefits, especially when measured against their inflated administrative costs.
“If fully implemented,” the report said about President Obama’s so-called Clean Power Plan, “would only reduce global temperatures by 0.01 C by 2100! While the benefit is undetectable in the real world, the costs of this regulation could total nearly $300 billion dollars.”
“The keep it in the ground activists want to make these resources off-limits and discontinue any search for additional resources,” the report notes. “They understand that America is resource rich, but they would rather concentrate control over these resources in the hands of Washington bureaucrats instead of individual Americans.”
The Energy Information Administration’s data has largely mirrored the IER findings, with the EIA stating that coal and natural gas generate two-thirds of the U.S.’ electricity; whereas, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and hydroelectric collectively produce only about 13 percent.
The costs associated for the transition are monstrous as well.
According Vaclav Smil, a scientist and energy policy analyst at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg switching from fossil fuel electric generation capacity to fully renewables would cost $2.5 trillion.
The EIA, for its part, went on to warn that were the U.S. to depend solely on renewable energy sources, then the country should ready itself for massive roving blackouts and daily power outages.
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