Just by living in 21st-century America, you have a lot to be thankful for.

You live in the richest country in the history of the world — and one of the freest. Despite what the left claims, the benefits of wealth aren't limited to the 1%. The amenities most people take for granted — a vehicle, washing machine, hot water on demand — would have been unimaginable luxuries for most of human history. Among poor families in America, significant majorities have air conditioning systems, televisions, microwaves and smartphones.

We've come a long way from what the Pilgrims had to celebrate at the first Thanksgiving. Over half of the settlers had died during the previous winter. The remaining settlers were grateful for a harvest that would help them survive the upcoming winter.

Today, most people are concerned with how many servings of turkey they can eat while still having enough room for pumpkin pie.

It'd be impossible to list all the changes over the last four centuries that have turned scarcity into opulence. The bravery and sacrifice of members of the military are near the top of the list.

So is the fossil fuel industry.

You didn't have to hunt your turkey, kill it and clean it. A farmer did that on a farm powered primarily by fossil fuels. A truck powered by fossil fuels drove it to your supermarket. Your supermarket used fossil fuels to keep its lights on, its freezer cold and its credit card readers humming. You used fossil fuels to drive there and buy it. That's true even if you have an electric car, because electric cars plug into an electric grid mostly powered by coal and natural gas. Fossil fuels will also heat the oven used to cook your turkey. The lights you turn on during Thanksgiving dinner, the TV you use to watch football and the dishwasher you use to clean up all run primarily on fossil fuels.

Renewable energy gets all the publicity, but wind and solar power generated only about 14% of the nation's electricity in 2023. Fossil fuels generated 60%, with nuclear and hydropower generating over 24%.

When the Pilgrims got cold, they had to chop wood and burn it. Today, you push a button on your thermostat. Going to see family? Airplanes use fossil fuels. The iPhone you use to FaceTime Grandma wouldn't exist without the power provided by fossil fuels.

This doesn't mean fossil fuel companies are perfect. It doesn't mean that there aren't externalities to fossil fuel production, although it's hard to take environmental alarmists seriously after decades of failed predictions. It doesn't mean that someday a different fuel source, like nuclear power, won't replace fossil fuels.

But without fossil fuels, Thanksgiving dinner and everything else in American life would look entirely different — and not in a good way.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Victor Joecks is a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and host of the Sharpening Arrows podcast. Email him at [email protected] or follow @victorjoecks on X. To find out more about Victor Joecks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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