TV Interview with Lomborg on SunNews Network, Canada

Around the world, thousands of children are striking for climate action. Spurred on by young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, they want to convince adults to “panic.”

The campaign is supported by adults who feel the same way: Thunberg has been welcomed to the World Economic Forum in Davos, has delivered a TedTalk, and has been lauded in Rolling Stone and The Guardian.

Thunberg’s undeniable passion is directed at perhaps the only challenge in the world where a call for everyone to panic would be received with so little critical thought.

Inadequate and poor-quality power supply means frequent interruptions, poor voltage levels, and dissatisfied consumers across much of the country. Adding up all the losses in the system—including the losses due to energy dissipated in conductors, transformers and other equipment, along with pilferage by those who bypass meters, and losses from failure to recover the amount billed to consumers—India’s total energy losses came to 24% in 2015-16, significantly more than international norms.

Improving energy efficiency is a fashionable policy that governments worldwide promote. On paper, it seems a no-brainer: improving energy efficiency is sold as cost-reducing, job-creating, and planet-saving. Win, win, win – and the media often help close the deal, focusing entirely on all the supposed upsides. But there is another side – a downside – to the story.