We started this series because we knew there were some good news trends associated with modern life that people seemed not to be taking notice of because all they ever hear about is the existential threat of climate change caused by using fossil fuels. But using fossil fuels has also made a lot of things better in the world, by powering the innovation and production that has driven these improvements. So if we were to give in to the Just Stop Oil crowd, while we might make an imperceptibly small change to the climate a century from now, it would be at the cost of giving up a lot of improvements in our lives. Including, as we show this week, reductions in death rates from childhood cancers:

Around the world an average of 12 out of 100,000 people under 5 years died annually due to cancer in 1980, as did about 7 out of 100,000 in the 5-14 age range. Fast forward to 2021 and, while the death rate isn’t zero, it has fallen by about half in each group. In the under-5 range it’s now just under 6, and in the 5-14 age range it is about 3.5.

Furthermore, the numbers are even lower in wealthy countries. In Canada for instance the death rate in each category is about 2.

This progress is due to a lot of things, especially western societies having enough wealth to support the people who want to train in medical specialties and learn how to diagnose and treat these awful diseases, and also to pay for modern hospitals and medicines and all the things necessary for the treatments to be given effectively.

We can’t eliminate our best and cheapest form of energy and not expect to lose out on the many benefits it has brought. A slogan like Just Stop Oil might as well be rephrased “Just Stop Everything including treatments for childhood cancer.”