Below is a summary of keynote speaker Alex Epstein’s message at the 2024 Basin Electric Annual Meeting.

Alex Epstein, a philosopher and energy expert who argues that "human flourishing" should be the guiding principle of energy and environmental progress, presented the keynote address at Basin Electric’s 2024 Annual Meeting of the membership. Epstein is the author of the new bestselling book “Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas—Not Less.” He is also the creator of EnergyTalkingPoints.com—a source of powerful, well-referenced talking points on energy, environmental, and climate issues.

Epstein emphasized the importance of framing the debate on fossil fuels in a common-sense manner, highlighting that fossil fuels have made the climate safer, despite the mainstream media's struggle to counter this fact. He argued that acknowledging the current benefits of fossil fuels is crucial for trust in future predictions about climate change.

He went on to point out that fossil fuels have played a significant role in making the world safer from climate-related issues and challenges the notion that future fossil fuel use will lead to catastrophic climate disasters. He references mainstream climate science to argue that while warming will continue, its effects will be more benign than catastrophic, with warming occurring primarily in colder regions and seasons.

Epstein advocates for energy freedom, which involves using the best energy sources for each situation, without bias against fossil fuels, to ensure prosperity, innovation, and the development of scalable alternatives. He calls for a rational energy policy that acknowledges the benefits of fossil fuels and encourages freedom in energy choices.