Better to be safe than sorry

A typical conversation in 2021 regarding global energy matters:

Energy poor (EP): We need more energy, we have very limited access and any help will do.

Climate alarmist (CA): Of course, we have renewables, please take some.

EP: OK thanks, but we’d also like to use the sources that you have access to, that are the basis of all of your wealth, that you still use prolifically to this day and that are currently the most reliable option for most of the many things we need energy for.

CA: Well, ahh, that’s not going to be possible, because, well, it will destroy the planet.

EP: But you’re still using them?

CA: Well that’s different, we are trying to stop, and we know better. Besides, renewables are good enough and getting better.

EP: So why aren’t you using them for everything you do then?

CA: Again, that’s different, we’re trying to stop, and that’s what counts.

EP: Ahh OK, well, can you at least explain a bit more about why we can’t use the other sources, and lay out your reasoning?

CA: Please listen closely as we’ve already said this, it’s because they are destroying the planet of course, just look around. Things are clearly getting worse, for everyone, trust us. It’s OK, one day you’ll understand.

EP: OK, I can’t really see any indications of impending catastrophe in any of the data you are showing me, and I’m personally just struggling to cook food and keep my kids from freezing to death, so I’m not sure about all that. Furthermore, and I only know his because a highly educated person with easy access to all the energy they’ve ever needed told me, the data shows that things have been improving for everyone around the globe for about the last 180 years, since we started using one particular type of energy source. But anyway, just so we can justify not using such energy sources to our poor kids and dying, 45yr old elders, can you show us some evidence that what you say is going to happen at some point soon is actually going to happen?

CA: Well, we have models that mostly work pretty well (it is warming, after all), but ultimately it’s all in the future, so we can’t guarantee you anything, and have no precedents nor definitive evidence that what we think is going to happen will actually happen, and it would be over many decades, of course. Ultimately, there is no second Earth to test this all out on! You’ll just have to trust us and follow our advice, even if that means you will have less access to energy.

EP: Well that seems a bit uncertain, and cruel, to be honest. So you want me and all people like me to not use those energy sources just because you think it will make life worse for everyone, at some point in the future, but with no proof nor precedents, and knowing that using such energy sources has made life better for everyone over the last 180 years? That seems a bit unfair. Plus, I can absolutely guarantee you that if I use those energy sources now I can make my life and that of my kids and elders much better, almost straight away, but certainly within a few years and decades.

CA: We know that, but we say again, no, you cannot use those energy sources anymore, forget about them. When it comes to the planet and our wellbeing, in 2030, 2050 and 2100, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

EP: But where does leave us? We need more energy right now!

CA: Sorry.