The climate crisis is due to the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, but we are often told it is “really” about something else: economic growth, population growth, nature deprivation, deforestation or lack of investment in new energy systems. The first is based on multiple misunderstandings, makes little quantitative sense and reverses cause and effect; nor is “growth ideology” a significant impediment to climate action. The second is even more quantitatively implausible than the first. The third is contradicted by actual rural-urban political patterns. Faith in forest carbon sequestration has given rise to a large offset industry, but forests can readily become a net source rather than a sink in a warming world. Finally, while investments in energy efficiency and renewable sources are essential, they are not the same as equivalent reductions in fossil fuels in a world of expanding energy use. This is made clear by the experience of Germany, a world leader in green development and also a regional laggard in reducing emissions. There are many other goals to be pursued, but directly suppressing fossil fuel use is the sine qua non of avoiding a climate catastrophe.