Reliable and affordable energy : Make clean stoves, electricity part of the new promises

It’s very easy to form the view that the modern world is coming apart. We are constantly confronted with an onslaught of negativity: frightening headlines, alarming research findings, and miserable statistics.

There are indeed many things on the planet that we should be greatly concerned about. But fixating on horror stories means that we miss the bigger picture.

Bjorn Lomborg gave a TED Talk in New York on How Much Have Global Problems Cost the World? A Scorecard from 1900 - 2050. He presents a new way to compare global problems and shows that the world is becoming a better, more livable place.

The rich world’s fossil fuel hypocrisy is on full display in its response to the global energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While the wealthy G7 countries admonish the world’s poor to use only renewables because of climate concerns, Europe and the United States are going begging to Arab nations to expand oil production, Germany is reopening coal power plants and Spain and Italy are ramping up African gas production. So many European countries have asked Botswana to mine more coal it will have to triple its exports.