Imagine dedicating your life to environmentalism and all its assumptions. Then imagine you realize those assumptions are all wrong. What you will do? Entrepreneur Brian Gitt tells his personal story and where it has led him.
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Script:
Just because you feel you’re doing the right thing doesn’t mean you’re right. I have spent most of my life protecting the environment. But I went about it the wrong way. I think I am acting ethically, protecting the well-being of people and the planet. In fact, I harmed both.
I believe that solar and wind power are the future—our only hope is to avoid environmental catastrophe. Fossil fuels are the enemy, extracted from the earth by greedy companies that loot the land, pollute the air and destroy the ecosystem.
Keeping the wilderness as pristine as possible is my passion.
Since I was a teenager, I have loved being outdoors. I’ve led rock climbing expeditions in Alaska, spent months backpacking in the Rockies, and climbed the highest peaks in national parks. I only take jobs that I think will protect the environment.
I started a company that builds composting systems for cities and businesses.
I used to be the executive director of an organization that advocates for green building policies.
And then I became the CEO of a consulting firm that works to make homes more energy efficient.
At the time, the Obama administration spent billions of dollars in federal funding to create jobs in the energy sector, and my company won more than $60 million worth of multi-year contracts.
I think I’m making a real difference in the world. I am surrounded by intelligent, successful, ambitious people who share my beliefs and desire to change things from my heart. And my company had a lot of money and a lot of government support.
There was only one problem: our project to build more energy-efficient homes was a complete failure.
Home energy improvements are too expensive for middle-class families—even with generous government subsidies. In contrast, wealthy families love the program. They get the subsidies they don’t need and the environmental credibility they crave. In reality, however, we achieved little—except to waste taxpayer money.
That’s not how the government sees it. The government celebrated the project as a big win.
It’s a great photo for politicians. But I know the program doesn’t deliver the jobs and energy savings we promised.
Maybe I should get props and keep doing what I’m doing.
But I can not.
I began to re-examine everything I once believed in about energy and the environment.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was living in a fantasy world: perfectly fine for making me feel good about myself and my mission, but completely useless for making a change. real environment.
The more I researched, the more I realized that my project was just a symptom of a much larger problem.
We are wasting trillions of dollars in the vain hope that wind and solar power will replace fossil fuels—oil, coal, and natural gas. Over the past 20 years, however, the world’s dependence on these fuels has decreased by only 3 percentage points—from 87% to 84%.
It was a pathetic return on our “investment”.
If we’re serious about dealing with climate change, protecting the environment, and lifting people out of energy poverty around the world, then we need to stop chasing fantasies. Instead, it’s time to honestly consider all the costs and benefits of all energy sources—wind, solar, oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear.
Greenhouse gas emissions are a concern but not the only thing we need to consider when discussing energy and the environment. Here are five principles to help us evaluate the best energy options to protect both people and the planet.
One. Reliability: A reliable power source provides power 24/7/365. Countries and countries that have doubled down on renewable energy have to deal with energy distribution and power outages.
Two. Affordability: Energy costs affect the cost of everything else. If energy wasn’t affordable, ordinary people wouldn’t be able to heat and cool their homes, and businesses wouldn’t be able to make the products we want and need.
For the full script, visit: https://www.prageru.com/video/confess…
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