A group of Congressional catastrophists is threatening the fossil fuel industry for “extensive efforts” in its communications to “undermine efforts to curb GHG emissions.”
A group of Congressional catastrophists is threatening the fossil fuel industry for “extensive efforts” in its communications to “undermine efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.”
But the industry has a First Amendment right to do this—and should actually have done far more.1
- A new 65-page Congressional report uses one fallacy over and over: showing that some internal opinion at a company conflicts with its public opinions or actions, then accusing the company of dishonesty. But such conflicts are inevitable when you employ thousands of people!2
- Note that where an internal opinion favors rapid greenhouse gas restrictions, the Congressional report supports it. But where an internal opinion is against restrictions, the report opposes it.
Clearly the report just wants fossil fuel companies to follow its authors’ political opinions.3
- The report’s cited documents of fossil fuel companies reveal that regarding the climate effects of fossil fuels, there has been reasonable disagreement over their nature (how negative or positive), magnitude, and policy implications (what we should do given the many offsetting benefits of fossil fuels).
- Instead of recognizing the complexity of assessing the nature, magnitude, and policy implications of fossil fuels’ climate effects, the Congressional report pretends it’s obvious that these effects are exclusively negative and enormous, and that fossil fuels have no offsetting benefits.
- It can be determined that policy analysis of this entire “report” is garbage by its omission of three essential considerations:
1 The overall benefits of fossil fuels
2 The climate-related benefits of fossil fuels
3 The fact that we’re safer from climate than ever
