American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2015 - 117

ConventionCoverage: Eastern Kansas Oil & Gas Association

Fossil Fuels Improve
Human Habitats
By Dan Holder

MAYETTA, KS.-Organizations such
as the Eastern Kansas Oil & Gas Association have a large part to play in educating
the public about the benefits of fossil
fuels, but individuals have a greater role,
asserted Alex Epstein, author of The
Moral Case for Fossil Fuels.
The keynote speaker at EKOGA's annual convention, held Sept. 16-17 at the
Prairie Band Casino & Resort in Mayetta,
Epstein offered a new moral standard he
said association members could use in
the public energy argument.
"They call one standard environmentalist," he said. "I don't think that is a
very accurate description, because if you
are talking about environment, the environment is a habitat. There is a question
of whose habitat you are interested in. I
am interested in the human habitat first
and foremost, so I care about the human
environment."
So-called environmentalists don't care
about the human habitat very much, Epstein argued, and instead favor nonhuman
habitats. "I call that anti-humanism, because ultimately the rest of nature is allowed to do whatever it wants, but human
beings are supposed to not live according
to our nature. Everything else is allowed
to impact the planet, but we are not," he
characterized.
The green community considers zero
impacts on the environment the ideal,
Epstein maintained. Under his moral
framework, Epstein contrasted, the right
way to consider environmental impacts
is to maximize the positive ones and
minimize the negative. Epstein described
himself as a humanist, which he described
as an outlook that prioritized human life
and well-being.
Moral Concepts

The oil and natural gas industry frequently encounters three obstacles from
the environmental, Epstein said, describing
them as the hydra, arguing to zero, and
moral standards. Fossil fuel opponents'
main strategy is mounting an endless,
multifaceted onslaught of challenges, he

described.
"It is not, the pro-fossil fuel side has
five proposals and the anti-fossil fuel
side has five; it is the anti-fossil fuel side
has 50 proposals and the pro-fossil fuel
side has zero," Epstein pointed out. "The
other side is proactive and overwhelming,
and our side is reactive and overwhelmed."
The result leaves the fossil fuel industry
fighting a hydra, he compared, the mythical
beast that grew two heads when one was
cut off. Aiming for the hydra's heads is
futile, he indicated. The attack must deal
with fundamentals and cut out the heart.
The anti-fossil fuel camp often uses
the hydra strategy, raising alarm about a
purported threat in one direction, while
other activists draw attention to other
considerations, Epstein related. The energy
industry mistakenly reacts as if each requires its own response. "All these attacks
are exactly the same in a fundamental
way, and there is the same exact way of
dealing with them. They all have something in common. They are based on a
certain moral ideal," he said.
Fossil fuel opponents have shaped the
debate, he said, forcing oil and gas proponents to fight on battlefields chosen
by their opponents and allowing them to
set the objectives. The oil and gas industry
must oppose the ideal of getting off fossil
fuels and replacing them with green energy, he asserted.
"Every anti-fossil fuel proposal has a
halo over it. Its supporters say it is good,
and we are headed in the right direction,"

Epstein said. "Even if you have some
specific argument-such as a proposal
gives too many subsidies to wind-they
still will say it is in the right direction. If
you propose to do something that involves
fossil fuels, they say this is in the wrong
direction."
He cited the debate about hydraulic
fracturing as one example. The anti-development side points to fears regarding
groundwater contamination and earthquakes, he observed, but the underlying
theme is that fracturing helps fossil fuels
and so promoting it is a move in the
wrong direction. Epstein contended if
somehow the fossil fuel industry did the
impossible and reassured the public on
every oil or gas issue, it would still be
debating according to its opponents' template. He called that arguing to zero on
the other side's terms.
"You are saying getting off fossil fuels
is a legitimate goal, but this particular
version of that will not work," he described. "So one side says we can get rid
of fossil fuels in 10 years, but industry
disagrees and says it will take 40 years.
Is it any wonder this does not win people
over? You agree that you are bad and the
world would better off without you. You
are arguing over the expiration date."
The oil and gas industry too often
simply concludes the lack of public
support for its arguments is illogical, but
the public is reacting logically according
to the parameters of the debate, Epstein
reasoned. According to the argument's

Alex Epstein (left), author of The
Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, pauses with Dwight Keen, a member
of the Eastern Kansas Oil & Gas
Association's Board of Directors,
before his keynote speech at the
EKOGA annual meeting. Epstein
told the association the debate
about fossil fuel use needed a
new moral standard.

OCTOBER 2015 117



American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2015

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