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Notes -
I think you may have chosen the wrong hypothetical - if you were someone who worked in that specific industry, I'd expect that even if you were utterly convinced of the truth of my position you'd continue to advocate for shale because you have a direct financial incentive to do so. But if I instead just assume that you're an expert with no conflicts of interest, then you would have to make a much more compelling case than that - I'd expect a full on report detailing all the potential environmental concerns, how they're addressed, in-depth EROEI calculations, long-term evaluations, profitability, etc. My true objection does lie elsewhere in the sense that this one specific instance of environmental damage isn't the sole motivating factor behind my position, but I am absolutely amenable to changing my mind if you can effectively demonstrate that shale is sustainably profitable when all the externalities are taken into account and the accounting takes the current distortion of the financial system into consideration. I'm more than happy to refrain from arguing you on this one specific point and acknowledge almost everything you said as correct (I will reserve judgement on the "making shitloads of money" part), but that isn't actually enough to assuage the totality of my concerns.
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