Costs Of Energy

In “Energy’s Hidden Cost” (C&EN, Nov. 2, 2009, page 24), C&EN reports on a congressionally mandated study of the hidden costs of energy. The study put a dollar value “primarily based on the health impacts and premature deaths of nearly 20,000 people annually.”

This study appears to look only at the negative effects and costs of energy. A true accounting for energy in the U.S. would also look at the benefits. It takes energy to run a hospital, to produce drugs, and to make lifesaving equipment. Also, energy is used to run machinery and equipment that, if they were not used, then either human or animal power would have to be used, resulting in negative health impacts and premature deaths.

Such a one-sided study could be done on many things. If one used the same logic and looked at the production of C&EN, both paper and electronic, one would quickly tote up trees destroyed to make paper and energy used to run computers, presses, buildings, and transportation. The “costs” are huge. The implication is obvious—stop producing C&EN. No. Please do not stop publishing C&EN, but do try to get C&EN to be more balanced in the overall content.

A story such as this one should either be followed with a call for a complete accounting or a disclaimer noting that anyone using the numbers is being overly negative because they have ignored the many benefits that energy usage gives which almost certainly lead to longer, healthier, and happier lives for many millions of people.

George Schaefer
Cleveland