Reality Check for Gen Z: ‘Green’ Energy Requires Wealth
10 hours ago Guest Blogger
By Ethan Watson
One of the reasons President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill has drawn fire in recent days is the blow it deals to green energy. Climate-anxious Gen Zers may clutch their pearls at the expanded oil and gas sales on federal lands, or the elimination of the methane emissions fees, especially since over 40% of Gen Z supports completely phasing out fossil fuels. But the well-meaning environmentalists of my generation should acknowledge the most important asset our society has in fighting pollution – wealth. For now, environmental policy should unleash fossil fuels and keep energy cheap to preserve this asset.
Environmentalism is a privilege only a select few humans throughout history have been able to indulge in. Most humans cared about the environment only in the narrowest sense: Will the land be able to feed me next year? Will it support my family this harvest?
That’s why you never hear about a climate protest in Sub-Saharan Africa, where biomass fuels like wood and animal dung are still important sources of energy. Some of the world’s most polluted cities lie along the Indus Valley in India and Pakistan, two economies that are still very much industrializing. When was the last time Greta Thunberg and her ilk tried to cram down a Green New Deal on Pakistan?
Human material wealth increased dramatically with the ability of societies to produce cheap energy. Developed countries can’t pull the ladder up behind them and discourage using the very resources that made them prosperous in the first place.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/06/23/reality-check-for-gen-z-green-energy-requires-wealth/
