Joe Biden is hardly the climate warrior we would hope for, but he clearly gets it. He has done far more than any other US president. With the election looming, he's hedging his bets, trying not to piss off anyone too much. But if he wins, I think we'll see bold new initiatives.
Highly unlikely to happen, not even in the conversation, but degrowth. It can happen as organized as possible, or our diminishing access to energy can cause uncontrolled degrowth that included massive climate migrations and resource wars. That's the path we're on. The better path: https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/degrowth-the-vision-we-must-demand
Degrowth means using progressively less energy. Which means shrinking economic activity, which is a DOA concept with government, business and anyone with a job.
I realize it's DOA politically, but it's the only path that can accommodate eight billion people. It would mean the end of materialism (ending anyhow) equitable wealth distribution (goodbye oligarchs) and if less individual wealth a higher quality of life. Obviously, this is utopian thinking, I'm not naive, but what's coming is really frightening. With the collapse of the biosphere comes failed agriculture, mass migration, runaway inflation, chaos and violence. We will use less energy, one way or another. Renewable build out, destructive in itself, will never match fossil fuels. That's a fantasy.
Sharp limits on new pipelines, refineries, export facilities. Dramatically reduced drilling permits and leases. Markedly higher taxes on oil companies. Substantial new subsidies for green energy. And more.
"Surreal" is putting it mildly. Vote -- not so much for the survival of our planet; I'm convinced Earth will do just fine without humans -- but for the well-being of billions and billions of beings, including humans, who will suffer terribly unless the current trajectory changes drastically. We need an epic paradigm change, people need to FEEL their connection to other beings, the planet, the Universe.
We all want there to be some set of actions that governments, corporates and collective society can take to put the brakes on, reverse course, repair the damage and avoid ecological & societal collapse.
But in the absence of revolutionary action we default to support of the inherent incrementalism that governs and limits progress. We default to faith in "clean" technologies and the supposed potential for enlightened political leadership, even against overwhelming evidence that such faith is unjustified.
It is a (hopefully) nearly worn out but still prevalent delusion that wind, solar & battery tech can replace FFs, effectively reduce GHG emissions, reduce climate disruption harms and "electrify everything". Instead, they add another perilous burden on Nature while pretending not to do so.
On the political front, there is only false promising & in-your-face hypocrisy. All FF producing countries are now openly committed to producing as much fossil energy as required to meet sharply rising demand, while claiming to be committed to "significant" emissions reductions. Footnote: COP29 will be held in Azerbaijan where "Large oil reserves are a major contributor to Azerbaijan's economy. Gas and oil make up two-thirds of Azerbaijan's GDP, making it one of the top ten most fossil fuel-dependent economies in the world." – Wiki After COP28 Dubai, no surprise there.
And COP30 next year in desertifying Brazil will mark 40 years since Carl Sagan's 1985 congressional testimony on the dire consequences of GHG-caused climate change.
It's time to admit that the cavalry isn't coming. We must turn our attention to planning & preparing for catastrophe as best we can. In communities everywhere of every size . Sooner the better – to reduce the degree of unavoidable harm.
Dear Bill,I would like to recommend to your readers the recently published book by Jonathan Mingle: Gaslight - The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Fight for America's Energy Future. I found the book incredibly compelling, an absolute page turner and a must read. It is a confirmation of the fact that us little people truly can make a difference if we are passionate and willing to do the work! Thank you for all that you do and your blog, Lolly Cochran, East Montpelier
while I completely agree with you that Mr Musk is a flaming jerk, let's be aware that he set up the first web of car chargers, and offered to make it available to all manufacturers. They turned him down, initially, and only last year decided to hop on the charging infrastructure he has created. We are able to drive our electric car from CT to Florida because of his vision. Which, if experience like ours were better known, should encourage people to buy their own electric vehicle.
Bill, I’m reading your column once, again, as I have been for a couple of years! One of ideas that I’ve wondered about and started to delve into more deeply is this notion of degrowth. To my thinking we haven’t a chance in hell to continue existing on this planet until we, mostly Americans, start to drawback on our consumer nature, or at least at the current level we seem to subsist at! I realize that you can’t tell others what to do, let alone suggest a different approach, but if we started drumming up the idea, of degrowth, NY Times did a story on recently, who knows what people might do.
Maybe we should have been thinking about elections before lobbying for politically costly decisions that reduce net CO2 emissions by minuscule amounts. How many swing state voters did banning LNG export projects win?
among other things, this was a politically important effort to win back young voters dismayed by the approval of the Willow project. But 'minuscule amounts' equals 'Europe' we had no choice anyway
What a great resource you are. The priceless information on what's important (e.g., LNG) helps the rest of us understand what we should be urging our legislators as well as our scientists and engineers to do.
Huge pool of frackable gas in the Permian? My understanding is the economic viability of those reserves is near the end. Whatever is left is nearing the end of economic viability
And I'm worried that paused LNG is just that, merely paused. Billions of dollars are invested in CP2, and Biden, as we all know, approved Willow. Will CP2 be unpaused if he is re-elected? Of course, we know if the orange moron is elected it will for certain.
Thank you, Bill, this is mostly disheartening news but also encourages us to vote for our own lives as well as others around the world. We must not expose America AND the world to Project 2025.
Joe Biden is hardly the climate warrior we would hope for, but he clearly gets it. He has done far more than any other US president. With the election looming, he's hedging his bets, trying not to piss off anyone too much. But if he wins, I think we'll see bold new initiatives.
What sorts of bold initiatives do you think could forestall global ecosystem collapse?
Highly unlikely to happen, not even in the conversation, but degrowth. It can happen as organized as possible, or our diminishing access to energy can cause uncontrolled degrowth that included massive climate migrations and resource wars. That's the path we're on. The better path: https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/degrowth-the-vision-we-must-demand
Degrowth means using progressively less energy. Which means shrinking economic activity, which is a DOA concept with government, business and anyone with a job.
I realize it's DOA politically, but it's the only path that can accommodate eight billion people. It would mean the end of materialism (ending anyhow) equitable wealth distribution (goodbye oligarchs) and if less individual wealth a higher quality of life. Obviously, this is utopian thinking, I'm not naive, but what's coming is really frightening. With the collapse of the biosphere comes failed agriculture, mass migration, runaway inflation, chaos and violence. We will use less energy, one way or another. Renewable build out, destructive in itself, will never match fossil fuels. That's a fantasy.
Sharp limits on new pipelines, refineries, export facilities. Dramatically reduced drilling permits and leases. Markedly higher taxes on oil companies. Substantial new subsidies for green energy. And more.
I'm afraid none of those moves reduce total emissions or the threat of collapse.
"Surreal" is putting it mildly. Vote -- not so much for the survival of our planet; I'm convinced Earth will do just fine without humans -- but for the well-being of billions and billions of beings, including humans, who will suffer terribly unless the current trajectory changes drastically. We need an epic paradigm change, people need to FEEL their connection to other beings, the planet, the Universe.
I just found you here. Very glad to follow a name I remember from years ago and to know that you’re still fighting the good fight. Thank you.
thanks for being part of the struggle!
We all want there to be some set of actions that governments, corporates and collective society can take to put the brakes on, reverse course, repair the damage and avoid ecological & societal collapse.
But in the absence of revolutionary action we default to support of the inherent incrementalism that governs and limits progress. We default to faith in "clean" technologies and the supposed potential for enlightened political leadership, even against overwhelming evidence that such faith is unjustified.
It is a (hopefully) nearly worn out but still prevalent delusion that wind, solar & battery tech can replace FFs, effectively reduce GHG emissions, reduce climate disruption harms and "electrify everything". Instead, they add another perilous burden on Nature while pretending not to do so.
On the political front, there is only false promising & in-your-face hypocrisy. All FF producing countries are now openly committed to producing as much fossil energy as required to meet sharply rising demand, while claiming to be committed to "significant" emissions reductions. Footnote: COP29 will be held in Azerbaijan where "Large oil reserves are a major contributor to Azerbaijan's economy. Gas and oil make up two-thirds of Azerbaijan's GDP, making it one of the top ten most fossil fuel-dependent economies in the world." – Wiki After COP28 Dubai, no surprise there.
And COP30 next year in desertifying Brazil will mark 40 years since Carl Sagan's 1985 congressional testimony on the dire consequences of GHG-caused climate change.
It's time to admit that the cavalry isn't coming. We must turn our attention to planning & preparing for catastrophe as best we can. In communities everywhere of every size . Sooner the better – to reduce the degree of unavoidable harm.
Dear Bill,I would like to recommend to your readers the recently published book by Jonathan Mingle: Gaslight - The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Fight for America's Energy Future. I found the book incredibly compelling, an absolute page turner and a must read. It is a confirmation of the fact that us little people truly can make a difference if we are passionate and willing to do the work! Thank you for all that you do and your blog, Lolly Cochran, East Montpelier
while I completely agree with you that Mr Musk is a flaming jerk, let's be aware that he set up the first web of car chargers, and offered to make it available to all manufacturers. They turned him down, initially, and only last year decided to hop on the charging infrastructure he has created. We are able to drive our electric car from CT to Florida because of his vision. Which, if experience like ours were better known, should encourage people to buy their own electric vehicle.
true this!
Unfortunately Musk fired most of the Tesla supercharger operations staff in late April and has set back the expansion of the industry. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/inside-story-elon-musks-mass-firings-tesla-supercharger-staff-2024-05-15/
Bill, I’m reading your column once, again, as I have been for a couple of years! One of ideas that I’ve wondered about and started to delve into more deeply is this notion of degrowth. To my thinking we haven’t a chance in hell to continue existing on this planet until we, mostly Americans, start to drawback on our consumer nature, or at least at the current level we seem to subsist at! I realize that you can’t tell others what to do, let alone suggest a different approach, but if we started drumming up the idea, of degrowth, NY Times did a story on recently, who knows what people might do.
Maybe we should have been thinking about elections before lobbying for politically costly decisions that reduce net CO2 emissions by minuscule amounts. How many swing state voters did banning LNG export projects win?
https://thomaslhutcheson.substack.com/p/why-not-lng-exports
among other things, this was a politically important effort to win back young voters dismayed by the approval of the Willow project. But 'minuscule amounts' equals 'Europe' we had no choice anyway
Well, politics is not my specialty, but were those young "swing voters?"
Thank you, Bill McKibben and all your supporters. You've got the knack, now we need to knock on doors and advocate for the earth and each other.
What a great resource you are. The priceless information on what's important (e.g., LNG) helps the rest of us understand what we should be urging our legislators as well as our scientists and engineers to do.
Huge pool of frackable gas in the Permian? My understanding is the economic viability of those reserves is near the end. Whatever is left is nearing the end of economic viability
https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/the-vanishing-and-reappearance-of
And I'm worried that paused LNG is just that, merely paused. Billions of dollars are invested in CP2, and Biden, as we all know, approved Willow. Will CP2 be unpaused if he is re-elected? Of course, we know if the orange moron is elected it will for certain.
https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/giving-pause-to-disaster
Thank you, Bill, this is mostly disheartening news but also encourages us to vote for our own lives as well as others around the world. We must not expose America AND the world to Project 2025.
Dismantling patriarchy and the fossil fuel industry very close cousins….
Thank you so much. Quoting you often in my substack for women to use collaborative negotiation power for a more peaceful and sustainable planet…