Escape velocity is how fast something would have to exit the barrel of a cannon in order to escape. That's a totally different question from a powered rocket.

If you build a rocket that goes indefinitely upward at 1m/s, it'll never get close to the surface escape velocity (it will eventually be at escape velocity, once you're far enough from the planet that the escape velocity is only 1m/s), but by definition it will ultimately get away from the planet. Such a rocket would need some thrust on the way up, which is the model Loftus is using.

...Not that this eliminates the basic energy requirements, of course. Gravitational potential is gravitational potential.