Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All

by Michael Shellenberger

Ultimately, for people to stop using wood and charcoal as fuel, they will need access to liquefied petroleum gas, LPG, which is made from oil, and cheap electricity. Researchers in India proved that subsidizing rural villagers in the Himalayas with LPG reduced deforestation and allowed the forest ecosystem to recover.68 Some conservationists, including the Wildlife Conservation Society’s McNeilage, believe it is inevitable that the Congolese government will one day drill for oil in Virunga National Park, and that the results could be positive. “I think the chances they’ll leave the oil underground indefinitely is pretty minimal. The oil price has gone way down and maybe that’s why they’re not moving as fast as they were in Uganda. The estimates were of two to three billion barrels. Not all of them would be recoverable. But there could be 30,000 to 60,000 barrels per day and even 250,000 barrels per day. It could make a big difference to regional fuel needs.”69