SMU Economist: Environmentalists Live In “Fictitious World”
Speaking at the Energy Summit of Northeast Texas hosted by the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Bernard “Bud” Weinstein, an energy economist at SMU’s Maguire Institute, spoke positively of the direction of the oil and gas industry in Texas. Weinstein dismissed calls from environmentalists to end all oil and gas development in Texas:
“The reality is we can’t keep it in the ground, and the reason we can’t keep it in the ground is we need it, and we want it, and the demand for fossil fuels is going to continue to grow for a long, long time.”
Weinstein went on to call the anti-oil and gas movement as a “religion” and said that environmentalists live in a “fictitious world”:
“Those of us who believe that fossil fuels are good for the planet and good for the economy, we have to be very vigilant, because the anti-fossil fuel movement today is a religion. And it’s based on the belief that fossil fuels are destroying the planet, we’ve got to keep them in the ground, we’ve got to stop using them as quickly as possible. I mean there are a couple of legitimate groups that recognize reality, but the rest of it, it’s kind of religion. They live in this fictitious world.”
While many Texans welcome the benefits oil and gas industry, out-of-state environmental groups have attempted to organize in the state under false claims, advocating for policies that would be devastating to low-income Texas families. Despite environmentalists’ efforts, Weinstein’s analysis echoed that the energy outlook is bright for the Lone Star State.