Renewable energy is already driving major economic growth around the world — yet climate skeptics continue to insist that only fossil fuels can meaningfully boost GDP. With so much misinformation circulating about the economics of energy, one climate expert is cutting through the noise with the facts.
Former U.S. climate negotiator Lia Newman (@liaandtheworld) recently posted a TikTok debunking the claim that increasing fossil fuel usage boosts a region's GDP, in turn providing economic stability and lower poverty rates.
This claim was recently amplified in a video from The Free Press and former climate activist Lucy Biggers, which featured graphs suggesting a link between dirty energy use and increased income.
Debunking these graphs, Newman explained that they were created by fossil fuel advocate Alex Epstein, showing a clear agenda behind their framing. Addressing these claims, Newman cited a well-known scientific adage: "Correlation is not causation."
"This 'fossil [fuels] equals development' myth is outdated and misleading," Newman wrote in a caption to her video.
Newman clarified that fossil fuels themselves aren't pulling people out of poverty, despite what the graphs imply. Instead, it's what dirty energy usage represents — industrial, manufacturing, and job growth.
But that relationship is changing. Clean energy is reshaping manufacturing and industrial sectors, proving that countries can build booming economies without relying on high-pollution pathways.
Newman...
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