CLAIM: A Twitter account user on Nov. 1 made a claim on the social networking site that Green Energy is a scam just like global warming.
The tweep did not, however, justify the claim with a further explanation in its terse statement that elicited comments on the platform.
“Green Energy is a scam just like global warming,” said the social media user in the tweet, accompanied by a photo collage with a rhetorical question: “So, we’re not drilling for oil here because of global warming……But you’re gonna have somebody drill the same amount of oil somewhere else and burn even more to get it here?”
Green Energy♻️is a scam just like global warming😉 pic.twitter.com/3s1vVBGl92
— 🌴🏖☀️The Good Life☀️ 🏖🌴 (@GrandCanyon72) November 1, 2022
VERIFICATION: Green energy is any energy type that is generated from natural resources, such as sunlight, wind, or water; examples are solar power, wind, hydro, biomass, and geothermal.
According to TWI, a United Kingdom-based independent research and technology organisations, Green Energy often comes from renewable energy sources.
Just Energy, a retail energy provider, specialising in electricity and natural gas commodities in the US and Canada quotes the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as saying that green energy provides the highest environmental benefit.
This, Inspire Clean Energy said is because its production doesn’t release toxic greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, meaning it causes little or no environmental impact.
The energy sources according to it, got the name “Green” because it comes from natural resources provided to us by the Earth.
It said the colour green is often associated with health, nature, and sustainability; hence it makes sense that renewable energy is related to the colour that embodies nature.
What Stands It Out
For many people and organisations, green energy’s main draw is that it’s less harmful to the environment; as against fossil fuels powered energy, which studies showed is the main driver of global warming.
When fossil fuels are burnt, they release vast amounts of harmful byproducts called greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide (CO2)), into the atmosphere. Fossil fuels encompass coal, petroleum, crude oil, and natural gas.
So, green energy is better for physical health as it is far less responsible for polluting the air and water. The World Health Organisation reports that household and ambient air pollution causes 4.2 million deaths worldwide annually.
For this reason, green energy sources that cause less damage than their unsustainable counterparts such as fossil fuels that have devastating effects on climate change are seen as the best energy sources.
Global Warming
On the other hand, NASA refers to global warming as the long-term heating of Earth’s surface observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.
CONCLUSION: The claim that Green Energy is a scam like global warming is FALSE. Studies show that green energy is a source of power with little or no environmental impact and serves as the best alternative to fossil fuels sources, which emits greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
This fact-check was produced by BONews Service with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, International Fact-Checking Network, and African Fact-Checking Alliance network.