How should we replace fossil fuels?
Hank opposed new uses of coal and oil from 2007, and in 2011 was unsure whether nuclear power was worth its risks. Later he wants any approach that gets done, calls not emitting far cheaper than capturing carbon later, and backs renewables, electric cars and geothermal power. John said in 2016 that lots of people must try lots of solutions.
Axis: fast shift to clean sources (incl. nuclear) ... gradual, with bridge fuels
Positions by date: 25 records in 25 videos. The position was refined (2011, 2024), never reversed, in these records.
John
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-02-23 | first on record | John's answer: lots of people trying lots of solutions, most of which will fail but a few of which will hopefully succeed spectacularly; otherwise we are in big trouble. | How Energy and Time Change Everything 00:01:44 |
Hank
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-05-30 | first on record | Hank says everyone knows coal is bad though we need it for power, but the worst thing would be finding more ways to use coal. | May 30th: Ranavalona and Clean Coal 00:02:38 |
| 2007-06-01 | restate | Hank calls liquid coal an extremely bad idea, the opposite of everything he works for, because it would raise auto-fleet CO2. | June 1: Barack Saabama 00:01:23 |
| 2007-11-16 | restate | Hank says the Chevy Volt has the technology of the future and is frustrated it was removed from the show. | November 16th: Green Cars at the LA Auto Show 00:03:00 |
| 2008-02-04 | restate | Hank says candidates' 'energy independence' mostly means drilling for more oil, and since oil is the problem, more drilling may not be the solution. | Obama Says Subscribe 00:03:00 |
| 2009-01-16 | restate | Hank recommends hybrids and the plug-in Volt and says there are many more hybrid options and awesome things on the horizon. | Hank Green from the Detroit Auto Show 00:03:31 |
| 2011-03-16 | refine | Hank says he does not know whether nuclear power's benefits outweigh its risks, while most current ways of generating power are dangerous and bad and society needs electricity. | Why Did Fukushima Explode? 00:06:06 |
| 2011-08-29 | restate | Hank says humans are running low on hydrocarbons, and alternatives such as solar and nuclear power are either dangerous or not feasible. | A Letter to the Aliens 00:03:08 |
| 2013-09-27 | restate | Hank says fossil fuels are miraculous but costly, so we must use them less, develop alternatives, be more efficient and change how we live. | Invalid Arguments: Climate Change 00:03:18 |
| 2015-02-13 | restate | Hank opposes Keystone XL and says unconventional oil such as the tar sands should ideally all stay in the ground. | Draw My Life + 16 Other Suggestions 00:02:25 |
| 2017-06-02 | restate | Hank says we do know we are better off incentivizing these changes now, globally. | The Paris Accord: What is it? And What Does it All Mean? 00:04:05 |
| 2019-05-03 | restate | There is a cost to leaving fossil fuels in the ground, smaller than fossil fuel companies and the politicians they pay claim, but real; there is no single enemy to defeat. | What Game of Thrones is Really About 00:03:42 |
| 2019-05-31 | restate | Hank won't decide in four minutes whether fracking is ultimately good or bad: it depends on how and where it's done, and it is not a long-term solution but a bridge to the future we need. | Uncomfortable Nuance: Natural Gas Edition 00:02:26 |
| 2020-08-21 | restate | Often overlooked: overcoming climate change requires prosperity, a world with enough for people to be safe and happy and resources to free ourselves from the carbon economy. | The Water's Getting Warm 00:00:29 |
| 2021-08-13 | restate | Asked which approach he favours most, Hank says all of them: he wants anything that can get done. | How We Fix the Climate 00:14:43 |
| 2021-11-12 | restate | Hank says the bad news is that the long-term goal is to leave natural gas in the ground, because it and its combustion products are warming the Earth. | Everything a Normal Person Needs to Know About Helium 00:02:26 |
| 2022-02-18 | restate | As long as people want gas stoves, which House Hunters calls top-tier, gas companies will keep building and replacing very expensive infrastructure to pipe gas into homes. | You Don't Want a Gas Stovetop 00:02:09 |
| 2022-08-12 | restate | With high inflation and $5 gas, no member of Congress would raise fuel costs, so the bill is nearly all carrots for clean energy and a few sticks for fossil fuels. | The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What does it DO!? 00:13:31 |
| 2023-02-24 | restate | Hank says we have to stop saying 'now we're cooking with gas' and stop cooking with gas, which isn't even as good as solar-powered induction. | The P4A 2023 is The Hottest Club on the Internet 00:11:22 |
| 2023-08-04 | restate | Hank says we must do three things at once: stop emitting new carbon dioxide, start removing old CO2, and deal with the unavoidable impacts of current warming. | The Biggest Science Story of the Week 00:04:40 |
| 2023-10-04 | restate | Hank is not much worried that managing heat would let us burn fossil fuels forever: he thinks it is wrong, because renewables are simply better. | A Messy and Unhinged Introduction to Geoengineering 00:05:04 |
| 2024-02-09 | refine | Hank says broad public focus on direct air capture is now mostly a distraction, and the idea that we can keep burning fossil fuels and capture the CO2 later is silly because not emitting is far cheaper. | My Favorite Climate Graph 00:03:46 |
| 2024-03-01 | restate | Asked whether electric cars are the future, Hank says they are. | Flyana Boss Asks Hank Anything 00:02:26 |
| 2024-08-02 | restate | Hank thinks the future will figure out climate change, and makes a risky bet that geothermal power will be a big part of it, which people will then call obvious. | My Letter to the Future 00:01:57 |
| 2024-09-13 | restate | Hank says the US is projected to build about 37 nuclear power plants' worth of solar this year (2024), an exciting transition because it is needed. | My Governor is Weirder than Yours 00:16:22 |