But eco-extremists such as Redford, a board member of the activist Natural Resources Defense Council, oppose more energy production. They want energy conservation instead. Redford must be counting on his good looks and Hollywood fame to support this alarmism. The facts don't. More energy may mean more pollution, but it may not.
Technology can reduce pollution from fossil fuel combustion.
Even if incrementally more pollution is produced, it's not clear that the public health will be harmed. There's a reason that more pollution hasn't adversely affected public health. Typical pollution levels in the U.S. whether in the air, water or from toxic waste sites are not, and never have been a public health problem. Few people realize this important fact after two generations of misinformation to the contrary. The only known deaths in the U.S. from air pollution occurred in 1948 in Donora, Penn.