Fossil Fuels Don’t Come From Fossils? Tucker Carlson Fact Check

In this video I provide context on a podcast that Tucker Carlson recently did with climate change denier Dr Willie Soon. It is mainly about the abiogenic petroleum theory, that is, the question whether the crust of planet Earth contains hydrocarbons that do not come from fossils, but I also have some comments on what Willie Soon said about the honesty of climate scientists.

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#science #sciencenews #climatechange #tucker

[murrayhamilton]

As an ex-petroleum reservoir engineer just wanted to clarify. Petroleum (crude) comes from breakdown of primarily marine plankton and to lesser extent algae and bacteria. Coal comes from breakdown of plants/vegetation.

We tried to drill for abiogenic gas in Sweden from 1986 to 1992 based on the theories of Thomas Gold. His idea was to drill through the old impact crater Siljansringen. They found some hydrogen. Nothing nearly worth the effort.

[slash]

The "pretty big if" you mention is the whole problem. Fossil fuel industry says IF we can capture CO2, then no problem, so fossil fuels are fine, and credulous people say yes, that makes sense, and then nobody actually does anything to capture CO2 at scale because it's expensive and complicated and ruins the economic advantage fossil fuels have in the first place. It's perfectly reasonable at this point to call out CO2 capture for what it is: nonsense. It's not scientifically impossible but it's practically infeasible and that's all that matters in the end. "Enforcing a narrative" is hogwash, it's about the proven track record of fossil fuel companies blowing hot air and doing nothing else.

[Trippyisop]

As an American I would like to apologize for Tucker Carlson, we do not claim him and he is an embarrassment to this country every time he opens his mouth.

[myvo]

Sabine, the issue is not that Al Jabers Statement was wrong, it's just entirely unhelpful until that "big if" is taken care of. It's like someone saying "The issue is not me throwing punches in the direction of peoples faces, the issue is that the punches then connect with the face". Technically true I guess, but instead of focusing our effort on creating face-blocking technology, how about that person just stops punching until we've figured it out? This is just another tactic of oil corporations to muddy the water and shift responsibility from the people creating/consuming fossil fuels over to scientists for not figuring out how to capture CO2 wherever it's created.

[AdamMansbridge]

I'm pretty sure the climate scientists don't like people saying "we don't need to stop burning fossil fuels we just need to stop dumping the carbon in the atmosphere" because there is no practical way to stop dumping the carbon in the atmosphere when you're burning it for power.

[JackdeDuCoeur]

Noise is easy to generate and most folks don't know enough to distinguish noise from signal, so this is how we get led by the stupid.

[JohnJ]

I came across a paper from Russia several years ago. IIRC they used Marble, Iron and Water subjecting them to the temperatures and pressures found in the Mantle and did indeed produce hydrocarbons.

[thorrBEM]

The Oxford English Dictionary notes that in the phrase "fossil fuel" the adjective "fossil" means "[o]btained by digging; found buried in the earth", which dates to at least 1652, before the English noun "fossil" came to refer primarily to long-dead organisms in the early 18th century.

[onshiplessoceans]

Wait. Banana seats on bicycles aren't made from bananas?!!!

[martinlastname]

It’s a confusing world out there. So many voices speaking with confidence

[James-rbb]

If only we could trust scientist who receive grants from the people they're supporting their stories

[billsybainbridge]

I beg to expand on something Sabine: "Groupthink" has been a problem for EVERY group in human existence... including sciences. It's philosophically intractable to have zero perspective anchors and still get things done. The harm comes when absolute conformity is a polar expectation.

[stuffbenlikes]

I was taught fossil fuels came from dead dinosaurs when I was a kid. Can't blame most people for middle school science teachers simplifying things and never correcting the misconceptions that result.

[jimburris]

I prefer the term hydrocarbon to fossil fuel, because the usual meaning of fossil is the mineralization of bone. Maybe not precise, but the belief that oil comes from dead dinosaurs is pretty widespread, and mostly inaccurate.

[TerryMcKennaFineArt]

It is bizarre to challenge the fossil nature of fossil fuels. Decades ago, I participated in a geologist led tour of a coal mine in Pennsylvania. This was strip mined, so we did not need to go underground. We saw the fossil ferns in many pieces of coal.

[jacquecortez]

Maybe he's confusing fossil fuels with dead Dinosaurs.

[Steveme]

It’s not food that makes me fat, it’s calories…

[brucestraub]

The idea that carbon sequestration or direct air capture is a bad idea is more than "a narrative". There is an argument supporting this idea. Briefly, sequestration and DAC are much more expensive than substituting renewable energy, increasing efficiency, or changing lifestyles. It's not groupthink. It's a very rational argument. Calling it groupthink is ad hominem. As you pointed out, ad hominem attacks are a sign of a weak argument.

[laduzitv]

i thought that "under pressure" was a glitch on youtube with an ad about to play but it bugged out lolol