Bettering Human Lives
On Easter Saturday, a short appeal for one of my favorite causes.
We live in interesting times. Indeed, the news over the past few weeks has been depressing. I won’t reprise the world’s many maladies here. Instead, I will make an appeal for one of my favorite causes: the Bettering Human Lives Foundation.
We are lucky to live in the West. We take energy abundance for granted. But the harsh reality is that energy poverty around the world is rampant. About one-third of the world’s population eats food that has been cooked over open fires or on polluting stoves. I saw this myself on our trip to India several years ago, when we were shooting our documentary, Juice: How Electricity Explains The World. Everywhere we went, we saw people cooking over open fires. They burned dung, straw, and every scrap of available firewood. On the highway near Agra, we saw women carrying baskets full of cow dung on their heads. In the nearby village, we saw cakes of dung drying on the roofs of houses.
The lack of clean cooking fuels has resulted in a public health disgrace that’s largely ignored by major media outlets. As seen above, more people — most of them women and girls — die from indoor air pollution caused by low-quality cooking fuels than die from AIDS/HIV, cholera, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. (All numbers from World Health Organization.)
That death toll could be slashed if there were sufficient supplies of propane, butane, and LPG stoves. That’s where BHLF comes in. The organization, led by the indefatigable Anne Hyre, is increasing access to clean cooking fuels in Africa by lending money to local entrepreneurs who are expanding their propane distribution businesses. Right now, BHLF is working in Kenya, Ghana, and Zambia. And while it is doing great work, it’s still a tiny outfit. (2024 revenue was $1.2 million.) To make a bigger impact, BHLF needs more money, a lot more.
It’s one thing to talk about energy humanism. BHLF is taking action by facilitating greater access to LPG in developing countries.
Lorin and I support BHLF and we hope you will, too. Donating is easy. You can do it by credit card, wire transfer, or check.
Happy Easter, y’all.
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Thanks Robert. So well said and appreciate your leadership and for being such a champion for the billions who live in energy poverty. Happy Easter!
Thanks for this letter Robert. I just signed up for monthly donations. It’s hard to think of a better cause. Not only helping to get clean air for people who need it, but also supporting local entrepreneurship.