There are those resistant to change, and then there are those who will do or say anything to stop it. A TikToker last year squared off against a Canadian politician in the latter camp. 

Rosh D’Arcy (@all_about_climate), a doctoral candidate with degrees in Earth and climate science, uses the platform to debunk misinformation and disinformation about the climate crisis and global transition from dirty energy such as coal and gas to clean renewables such as solar and wind.

@all_about_climate Debunking another myth about #renewableenergy #climate #sustainable #wind #solar #climateaction #savetheplanet #climatecrisis #science #explained #fyp #oil #coal #gas #netzero #logic #factcheck #globalwarming #planetearth #environment #politicaltiktok ♬ original sound – Rosh

The move is necessary to mitigate the worst effects of the rising global temperature caused by humans’ burning of these dirty fuels, which pollute the atmosphere, trap heat around Earth like a blanket, and contribute to health hazards (detailed here in the New England Journal of Medicine) as well as dangerous extreme weather.

In the video, Rosh shares a clip of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who seems uninterested in ditching these problems.

“You cannot produce a wind turbine with a wind turbine … because there’s a lot of steel that comes from coal,” she says. “And there’s a lot of fiberglass that also comes from fossil fuels. And you have to transport 1,500 truckloads to get it to a site — using fossil fuels.”

Rosh presents the plight of the Victorian candlemaker, saying they would have argued similarly a little over a century ago. He used two graphs that showed huge demand for candles through 1900 and the high cost of electric light bulbs through 1910. The light bulbs were expensive to make, there was no infrastructure to do so, and there was a lack of mainline electricity.

But candles — as well as gas and kerosene lighting — did take a back seat.

“Well, as we know now, that line of argument was completely wrong,” Rosh emphasizes. “Because of course, as the technologies developed, as the electrical infrastructure was built, light bulbs did in fact replace candles.”

He conceded that we still need dirty energy to create renewable technology.

“But assuming that that’s always going to be the case is obviously problematic,” he continues. “And yes, it’s obviously going to be several decades at least before we can completely replace fossil fuels with renewable energy, and of course there are problems and challenges we have to overcome to get there, but whether you like it or not, fossil fuels will go the way of the candle — and renewable energy, like the light bulb, will replace it.”

TikTokers derided Smith and clamored for faster movement from politicians and companies to meet the goal of decarbonizing industries around the world. This will help lower the temperature, creating a cleaner, safer, better future for all.

Some, however, offered other myths that have proved false or made claims without support. One user noted that wind turbines are unreliable, as they produce power only when the wind is blowing, much like solar power cannot be generated during nighttime.

Rosh pointed out that the United Kingdom relies on wind power as its primary energy source. In 2024, the country for the first time used more renewable energy (37%) than dirty energy (35%), Ember reported. Wind power accounted for 29% of that share, and it could grow.

One commenter summed it up by saying, “Change or paradigm shifting have always presented challenges especially for those profiting from the status quo!”

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