“Ocean acidification looks suspiciously like a back-up plan by the environmental pressure groups in case the climate fails to warm: another try at condemning fossil fuels. [...] Even if the world warms as much as the consensus expects, the net harm still looks small alongside the real harm now being done by preventable causes; and if it does warm this much, it will be because more people are rich enough to afford to do something about it.” PeopleIfsWorldTryingLooksDoeStillsRealDoneEnoughCausesCasesRichPlansFailingGroupsOceanPressureClimateEnvironmentalWarmHarmWar Of The WorldsFuelFossilsConsensusFossil FuelBeing DoneCondemningPressure GroupsOcean Acidification Author:Matt Ridley
“I am proud to work with the fossil fuel industry. I think it has historically done a horrible job of educating the public and I think my ideas will help it make a better case for freedom.” ThinkingIdeasDoneHelpingJobsCasesIndustryProudHorribleFuelFossilsFossil FuelHorrible Jobs Author:Alex Epstein
“[The Center for Industrial Progress'] model allows us to keep conflicts of interest to an absolute minimum as we do our research and writing. As for our relationship with the fossil fuel industry, it's the same as everyone else - they pay for our ideas, we never accept money to voice theirs.” WritingIdeasVoiceInterestPayAcceptingProgressIndustryConflictModelsResearchAbsolutesFuelOur RelationshipMinimumFossilsFossil FuelConflict Of InterestResearch And Writing Author:Alex Epstein
“Not using fossil fuels is tantamount to not using energy. It is economic suicide and eco-manslaughter.” EnergyEconomicSuicideFuelFossilsFossil FuelEcoManslaughter Author:Paul Driessen
“Fossil fuel is very seductive stuff. [John Maynard] Keynes once said that, as far as he could tell, the average standard of living from the beginning of human history to the middle of the eighteenth century had perhaps doubled. Not much had changed, and then we found coal and gas and oil and everything changed. We're reaping the result of that, both ecologically and socially.” HumansSaidFoundStuffResultsMiddleCenturyChangedStandardsAverageOilFuelGasCoalFossilsHuman HistoryFossil FuelSeductiveStandards Of LivingKeynes Author:Bill McKibben
“In the United States, cheap fossil fuel has eroded communities. We're the first people with no real practical need for each other. Everything comes from a great distance through anonymous and invisible transactions. We've taken that to be a virtue, but it's as much a curse. Americans are not very satisfied with their lives, and the loss of community is part of that.” PeopleNeedsFirstsRealStatesCommunityLossUnitedUnited StatesVirtueTakenDistancePracticalsInvisibleSatisfiedCurseFuelFossilsFossil FuelTransactions Author:Bill McKibben
“Where people aren't as deeply reliant on fossil fuel as in the United States, it's far easier for them to imagine change on this scale. When you go to Europe, they're much more ready. They use half the amount of energy per capita that we use. They can imagine using less than that. They see the benefits. They're ready to go.” PeopleStatesUseEnergyUnitedHalfUnited StatesImagineReadyAmountEasierBenefitsEuropeScalesFuelFossilsFossil Fuel Author:Bill McKibben
“When you go to China and the developing world, people understand more clearly the dangers that are coming at them because they're living closer to the margin. They don't have any of the false sense of invulnerability that Americans have. People from developing countries also feel that it's their right, if you're talking in terms of justice, to use fossil fuels like we did for a hundred years to get rich. It's hard for them to give up that vision.” PeopleIfsWorldGivingFeelsYearsCountryHardUseTermJusticeTalkingVisionRichDangerGiving UpHundredChinaDevelopingFuelFossilsMarginsGet RichFossil FuelDeveloping CountriesInvulnerability Author:Bill McKibben
“I suggest that this is a good time to think soberly about our responsibilities to our descendents - those who will ring out the Fossil Fuel Age. Our greatest responsibility, as parents and as citizens, is to give America's youngsters the best possible education. We need the best teachers and enough of them to prepare our young people for a future immeasurably more complex than the present, and calling for ever larger numbers of competent and highly trained men and women.” PeopleThinkingMenNeedsGivingEnoughAgeAmericaYoungParentNumbersResponsibilityTeacherCitizensCallingMen And WomenComplexesRingsFuelGood TimesFossilsCompetentFossil FuelYoungstersTime To ThinkBest Teacher Author:Hyman Rickover
“We need a firm cap on carbon emissions from fossil fuels. No coal, oil, or gas could enter the economy until the buyer had a permit. All permits would be auctioned by the federal government, and the number of permits auctioned would be decreased by three percent per year. Permits could be traded, but they could not be created out of whole cloth by companies that plant forests or dump iron filings at sea.” NeedsYearsWholeGovernmentWould BeThreeNumbersCompanyEconomySeaPercentPlantOilForestsFirmFuelGasIronPermitCarbonFederal GovernmentCoalFossilsCapsFossil FuelEmissionsDumpBuyersFilingCarbon Emissions Author:Denis Hayes
“I'm passionate about restoring the efficacy of American democracy, making capitalism sustainable, prioritizing advances in technology, and seizing the opportunities to use that kind of innovation to help usher in a new economy that doesn't rely on carbon-spewing fossil fuels.” KindHelpingUseOpportunityTechnologyEconomyDemocracyCapitalismInnovationPassionateRelyFuelCarbonFossilsFossil FuelRestoringPrioritizeEfficacyAmerican DemocracySeizing Author:Al Gore
“People are are moving away from the fossil fuel-based economy, to a more renewable economy. That is what is called the 'transition town' movement. There are three hundred towns in Britain that are making this transition. Taking energy from solar power, from wind power, from water power.” PeopleMovingThreeEnergyWaterEconomyMovementWindHundredTownsFuelBritainTransitionFossilsFossil FuelMoving AwaySolar PowerWind PowerWater Power Author:Satish Kumar
“The hardest problem of all is to appreciate the facts that the poor nations are - quite reasonably - not going to forgo their development, and that they can only afford to develop by consuming fossil fuels.” FactsProblemNationsPoorDevelopmentAppreciateHardestFuelFossilsConsumingFossil FuelPoor Nations Author:Philip Kitcher
“Today, our incentives aren't set up well - you can make a lot of money burning fossil fuels, digging up wetlands, pumping fossil water out of aquifers that will take 10,000 years to recharge, overfishing species in international waters that are close to collapse, and so on.” YearsWellsTodayWaterSpeciesInternationalBurningFuelCollapseLots Of MoneyFossilsIncentivesDiggingFossil FuelBurning Fossil FuelsWetlandsAquifersOverfishing Author:Ramez Naam
“Most Republicans are not prepared to stand up to the fossil fuel industry because they get a lot of their campaign funds from the Koch brothers and other people in the fossil fuel industry. That tells me why we have to reform our campaign finance system.” PeopleBrotherIndustryRepublicanPreparedCampaignsFinanceReformFuelFundFossilsFossil FuelCampaign Finance Author:Bernie Sanders
“I think a revolution transitioning from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy - somebody's going to be the 21st-century clean-energy superpower.” ThinkingEnergyCenturyRevolutionCleanFuel21st CenturyFossilsFossil FuelSuperpowerRenewable EnergyClean Energy Author:Hillary Clinton
“It is a fact that, today, up to seven million people a year are dying from fossil fuel pollution.” PeopleYearsFactsTodayMillionsDyingSevenFuelPollutionFossilsFossil Fuel Author:Mark Ruffalo
“Today, wind is the cheapest energy in America; solar is not far behind. In time, fossil fuels will only get more and more expensive.” TodayAmericaEnergyBehindsWindFuelExpensiveFossilsFossil Fuel Author:Mark Ruffalo
“The true cost of the pollution that is being dumped into the atmosphere and manifests itself in our sick children dealing with asthma or older folks dealing with heart and lung disease from the pollutions created by the burning of these fossil fuels, may not be reflected in the prices of fossil fuels, but that does not mean we aren't paying a high price for them.” HeartMayMeanChildrenDoeCostDiseaseSickFolksBurningAtmosphereFuelPollutionFossilsLungsFossil FuelDumpedAsthmaHigh PricesSick Children Author:Mark Ruffalo
“We only gain collectively by acting now. We gain by one day not having to pay a thing for fuel. We gain by having cleaner air, water, and food so that we are healthier and our health care costs come down. We gain by deflating the global fossil fuel markets that drive much of the conflict around the world.” WorldCareWaterPayActingAirOne DayCostConflictGainsAround The WorldHealth CareFuelFossilsFossil FuelCleanersHealth Care CostsActing Now Author:Mark Ruffalo
“I am grateful to the fossil fuel industry for bringing us the concentrated carbon that took us through the Industrial Revolution and through the technological revolution and brought us to the gateway of the renewable energy revolution, or what I call the sunlight revolution. But that is where we must part ways. It's the natural order.” WayOrderEnergyNaturalRevolutionIndustryGratefulFuelSunlightTechnologicalCarbonFossilsFossil FuelRenewable EnergyGatewaysIndustrial RevolutionI Am GratefulNatural Order Author:Mark Ruffalo
“Once the steam engine went away and we started moving into burning fossil fuels - not just burning them, but everything we do with oil - we've been experiencing [these problems] at an accelerated rate. The scary end-game scenario is getting closer and closer, about what we're going to be able to do to sustain life on this planet as we have come to know it. And I think this is a very real possibility, that we could be dealing with conditions we have no idea how to wrestle with.” ThinkingKnowsIdeasRealEndsProblemAbleMovingGamesConditionsPossibilityPlanetsRateScaryOilBurningNo IdeaFuelEnginesFossilsScenariosSteamFossil FuelSteam EnginesBurning Fossil Fuels Author:Don Cheadle
“Will we confront climate change in time or will we let fossil fuel companies determine our fate? This is a fight we can't afford to lose, and that's what keeps me moving forward.” MovingFightingLosesCompanyFateClimateClimate ChangeDetermineMoving ForwardFuelFossilsFossil Fuel Author:Frances Beinecke
“Fresh water is like a fossil fuel; we should not waste it.” ShouldWaterWasteFuelFossilsFossil FuelFresh Water Author:Walter Munk
“Burning fossil fuels has given us the gift of seeing ourselves in new ways. But that very gift now enables us to see we've got to change our ways.” WayGivenSeeingBurningFuelNew WaysFossilsFossil FuelBurning Fossil Fuels Author:Sylvia Earle
“We've got to alter our fossil fuel dependence and go to other energy sources.” EnergySourceFuelDependenceFossilsFossil FuelEnergy Sources Author:Sylvia Earle
“The burning of fossil fuels has altered the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere so rapidly and so abundantly that now, we are driving not just the warming trend, not just the sea level rise that is a consequence of the warming trend that is melting polar ice and alpine ice, but also [ocean acidification].” LevelsSeaAmountOceanConsequenceDrivingIceBurningAtmosphereFuelTrendsCarbonFossilsMeltingAlteredFossil FuelCarbon DioxideAlpineSea Level RiseOcean Acidification Author:Sylvia Earle
“The fossil-fuel-based development model has not benefitted all people and those who have benefitted least are now suffering great harm in the face of climate change.” PeopleFacesSufferingDevelopmentModelsClimateClimate ChangeHarmFuelFossilsFossil Fuel Author:Mary Robinson
“Tackling the issue of climate change presents us with an inflection point in human history - a climate justice revolution that separates development from fossil fuels, supports people in the most vulnerable situations to adapt, allows all people to take part, and, most importantly, realise their full potential.” PeopleHumansJusticeSituationSupportIssuesRevolutionDevelopmentClimateClimate ChangeVulnerableFuelRealisingFossilsHuman HistoryFossil FuelFull PotentialTackling Author:Mary Robinson
“It's time to transition beyond our fossil fuel addiction to a just economy based on green jobs, renewable energy, and local organic food.” JobsEnergyEconomyGreenAddictionLocalsFuelTransitionFossilsFossil FuelRenewable EnergyOrganic Food Author:Winona LaDuke
“We are living in revolutionary times. The good news is we have everything we need to leave fossil fuels in the ground. All we need is for you to join the rest of the world to bring about a cleaner, more stable, and peaceful future.” WorldNeedsNewsPeacefulRevolutionaryFuelStableGood NewsFossilsFossil FuelCleaners Author:Mark Ruffalo
“While the agreement signed in Paris between 195 nations to combat climate change was historic and significant, it's still vague and lacks the ambition to truly meet the challenge. The next step is to move aggressively toward a transition to 100% clean renewable energy as quickly as possible (that means no fossil fuels, nuclear, or big hydro).” MeanStillsBigsMovingNextEnergyNationsChallengesStepsAmbitionCleanClimateClimate ChangeNuclearSignificantParisFuelAgreementTransitionCombatVagueHistoricFossilsFossil FuelNext StepsRenewable Energy Author:John B. Quigley
“Remember that the problem is bigger than the car you drive or the types of lightbulbs in city hall. We need a fundamental shift away from dirty fossil fuels that spew carbon pollution. To make that happen, we need to put pressure on our leaders to take the bold actions necessary to move us off dirty sources of energy.” NeedsProblemHappensActionRememberMovingEnergyCitiesLeaderCarSourceTypeBiggerPressureFundamentalsDirtyFuelHallsPollutionCarbonFossilsFossil FuelBold ActionsCity Hall Author:Al Gore
“When they were putting oil rigs up and down the California coast, the whole issue of safe energy and the addiction to fossil fuels really came into focus.” WholeEnergyIssuesFocusSafeAddictionOilCaliforniaFuelCoastFossilsUp And DownFossil FuelRigsCalifornia Coast Author:Bonnie Raitt
“We shouldn't have stupid cars that use liquid fossil fuels. Come on, how outmoded is that? We have to get to the point where this is no longer a part of our experience.” UseCarStupidFuelFossilsLiquidFossil Fuel Author:Christiana Figueres
“Simply from greening our energy system and eliminating fossil fuel pollution, we get so much healthier that the savings in health care alone are enough to pay the costs of the green energy transition and would repay those costs in approximately a decade and a half in savings.” EnoughCareEnergyPayHalfCostGreenDecadesSavingHealth CareFuelTransitionPollutionFossilsSavingsFossil FuelEliminatingGreen EnergyGreening Author:Jill Stein
“To restore our inflamed atmosphere to a hospitable state requires nothing less than rewiring the entire globe - and replace every oil-burning furnace, every gasoline-burning car, every coal-burning generating plant, with renewable, climate-friendly energy sources. The earth's fossil fuel resources have blessed us with a level of prosperity and abundance unimaginable a century ago. Today they are propelling us forward into a century of disintegration.” StatesTodayEarthEnergyLevelsCenturyCarSourceResourcesBlessedPlantClimateProsperityOilBurningAtmosphereAbundanceFuelGlobal WarmingFriendlyGlobesCoalFossilsFossil FuelUnimaginableGasolineFurnacesEnergy SourcesDisintegration Author:Ross Gelbspan
“It does not matter whether we burn fossil fuels with malice or with love. As far as the atmosphere is concerned, it is not concerned. It is a collection of gases.” DoeMatterConcernedAtmosphereFuelCollectionsFossilsMaliceFossil Fuel Author:George Monbiot
“Climate change is due to the use of energy for industrial growth, which has been and is overwhelmingly based on fossil fuels.” Has BeensUseEnergyGrowthClimateClimate ChangeDuesFuelFossilsFossil Fuel Author:Graciela Chichilnisky
“Most progressive in the Democratic Party doesn't cut it, you know. If we still can't have a health care system that provides health care as a human right, if we still cannot, you know, ban fracking and fossil fuels and move like our lives depend on it - you know, we say in the next 15 years we need to phase out fossil fuels.” IfsKnowsNeedsYearsHumansStillsCareMovingNextPartyOur LivesCuttingDependsDemocraticHealth CareFuelProgressivePhasesFossilsDemocratic PartyBansFossil FuelHealth Care SystemFracking Author:Jill Stein
“To look at the climate crisis alone - and in my view this is an election where we're not just deciding what kind of a world we will be but whether we will have a world or not, going forward. And the climate crisis, for one thing, you know, Hillary [Clinton] has not repudiated fracking by any means, nor fossil fuels.” KnowsWorldLooksKindMeanViewsOne ThingElectionCrisisClintonClimateFuelFossilsFossil FuelFracking Author:Jill Stein
“[Hillart Clinton] holds the illusion that we can make fossil fuel safe, and that they are safe, and she established an office for fracking. We know who she's taking the money from. We know who the Democratic Party is taking the money from.” KnowsPartySafeOfficeIllusionDemocraticClintonFuelFossilsDemocratic PartyFossil FuelFracking Author:Jill Stein
“This is very dangerous for us, as a society, and I think people deserve a politics of integrity that is not bought and paid for by big banks, fossil fuel giants, war profiteers, insurance companies, the things that those two corporate parties both represent and which pull the strings inside the party.” PeopleThinkingTwoWarBigsPartyCompanyDangerousIntegrityDeservePaidCorporateGiantsFuelStringsFossilsFossil FuelInsurance Companies Author:Jill Stein
“I have the unique liberty as part of the Green Party that operates on the same terms. We have the ability to actually speak for everyday Americans. We are not controlled by major donors, by the influence of big banks, by fossil fuel giants, by war profiteers or insurance companies.” WarBigsSpeakTermAbilityPartyCompanyLibertyInfluenceMajorsUniqueGreenEverydayGiantsFuelControlledFossilsFossil FuelDonorsInsurance CompaniesGreen Party Author:Jill Stein
“This is sort of the epitome of the economic elite that is converging with a political elite. It's not only the banks and insurance companies. It's the war industry and private prisons. Certainly the fossil fuel agencies. It's not only that they're supporting this campaign, they're supporters of the Clinton Foundation. And where the Clinton Foundation ends and Hillary's [Clinton] political actions begin, that too is quite troubling.” WarEndsActionPoliticalCompanyEconomicIndustryFoundationPrisonClintonCampaignsAgencyFuelElitesSupporterFossilsFossil FuelInsurance CompaniesEpitomePolitical ActionPrivate Prisons Author:Jill Stein
“While we've doubled renewable energy, it was only a tiny portion of the energy portfolio to start with. But what we did was totally take the lid off fossil fuel extractions in every way imaginable. On the day following [Barack] Obama's trip to the Louisiana floods, you know, we had, I think, another 25 million acres that went on sale in the Gulf for further extraction.” ThinkingKnowsWayEnergyMillionsFollowingTinyBarackFuelPortionsFloodFossilsFossil FuelRenewable EnergyLouisianaAcresPortfoliosExtraction Author:Jill Stein
“This administration [of Barack Obama] has massively expanded fossil fuel extraction. So while they give lip service to it, they actually do not walk the walk that we need to walk if we are going to get out of here alive.” IfsNeedsGivingWalksAliveLipsAdministrationBarackFuelFossilsFossil FuelLip ServiceExtraction Author:Jill Stein
“Let me say two things about the costs - one is that there are detailed studies that show this, this is what some of the Stanford studies show, in fact, that we get so healthier, so much more healthy, when we eliminate fossil fuel pollution - 200,000 [fewer] premature deaths a year for example. And that's just the death part of it. Not to mention the asthma part of it, the heart attacks and the strokes and the cancers. And we also call for a healthy food system that prioritizes sustainable healthy local food production.” YearsHeartTwoFactsShowsStudyExampleHealthyCostLet MeCancerProductionsLocalsTwo ThingsFuelFewerPollutionStrokesFossilsFossil FuelPrematurePrioritizeHeart AttackHealthy FoodStanfordAsthmaFood ProductionPremature DeathLocal Food Author:Jill Stein
“When Cuba lost their fossil fuel pipeline when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990. Overnight they had no choice, they had to transition to clean energy, they didn't have any fuel to burn, and they also had to transition to a healthy food system, an organic system - their economy is crashing, this was not a planned transition. This was a crisis, but a crisis nonetheless, in which pollution went away. And it's very instructive to see what happened to their health.” ChoicesEnergyLostEconomyHappenedHealthyCrisisUnionsCleanFuelTransitionSovietPollutionSoviet UnionFossilsCubaFossil FuelClean EnergyPipelineHealthy Food Author:Jill Stein
“The other piece of this is that we call for cutting our bloated and dangerous military budget. And this is something that is made possible by moving to 100% clean renewable energy, where we cannot justify wars for oil, and where we cannot justify having some 700, 800 bases gathered around the world in something like 100 countries in significant measure protecting either access to fossil fuels or protecting routes of transportation.” WorldMadeWarCountryMovingEnergyPiecesCuttingMilitaryDangerousBasesCleanOilAccessSignificantAround The WorldBudgetsFuelJustifyRoutesFossilsTransportationFossil FuelRenewable EnergyMilitary Budget Author:Jill Stein