Until the wealthiest 800 people on earth - roughly one in ten million of us - feels that their lives and their assets (homes, investments, personal jets, yachts, etc.) are seriously threatened in the very near term, nothing significant will change. So somehow we who want to save enough of the climate for humans to survive at a level above the neolithic need to figure out how to directly put the lives and profits of the world's wealthiest at immediate risk unless they use their influence and political/economic power to pressure governments to start doing "the right things" on climate and energy.
I believe the root cause of all this inexcusible biosphere degrading modus operandi among TPTB is the morally bankrupt Social Darwinist ideology they ALL believe in with every fiber of their depraved being.
The myth that life should be harsh & unforgiving & builds character. is based on Social Darwinism. THAT is what Social Darwinists work day and night to force on us so ALL of us will have no option but to live in a "might equals right" Darwinist mad max 'kill or be killed' barbaric society.
June 8, 2023
SNIPPET:
The message of the Tarzan books, says sociologist Michael Kimmel, is that descending the evolutionary ladder is the only mechanism to retrieve manhood.” This is a severely stunted, shrunken, truncated view of human nature.
From the time of the classical Greeks and Romans, virtue had been defined as the restraint of the “lower” passions by the “higher” faculties of reason, spirit, and moral will. But Darwinism was taken to mean that humans had triumphed over the other species <i>not by reason and moral restraint but by the fierce, fighting urges.
In a stunning reversal, the animal passions and instincts were held up as the authentic self.
The secular script for manhood was redefined as crude and combative, governed by the biological instincts for lust and power.
Thank you for this outstanding and wide-ranging reporting and analysis. The first-ever trial arguing that a safe climate is a constitutional right is happening this week and next in Montana. I think readers would benefit from your take on it. Will you be writing about the trial?
My sentiments exactly. Well, I'm a bit torn. His uncle and his father assassinated. His mother badly lacking in the maternal qualities department. Yet, some of his siblings came out fine. But whatever the reasons for his behavior, he certainly has crazy notions that could be quite destructive. And I hate to think what could happen if he gets on the ballot.
Excellent reporting, Bill, as usual. Terrible temperature trend heading to a target TBD.
On a positive note, yesterday (my 76th birthday) I took delivery of an EV to replace my PZEV Crosstrek, so my transportation and home (powered by carbon-free sunlight via my 2019 installed solar PV array and cold climate heat pumps) are now completely carbon neutral. What's left to neutralize is my vegan diet.
My point in disclosing this is not pride, ego, conceit or narcissism, rather to make a point that even if every person on the planet were to become carbon neutral instantaneously on their next birthday, in a year's time, there would be no impact on the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere and oceans, and the temperature would continue to rise based on the latest assessment of James Hansen and 17 international scientists in his December 13, 2022, preprint and May 23, 2023, update of "Global warming in the pipeline."
It really does not matter whether Dr. Hansen or Dr. Mann—who along with Mark Hertsgaard at Covering Climate Now and other like-minded colleagues believes in "The best climate science you've never heard of"—is right or wrong. In either case, the reality of the situation is that we won't decarbonize for several decades, so our current 1.5°C target and even the discarded 2°C target will be "overshot" and any hope of returning to Holocene norms is on the distant horizon.
Your readers may feel satisfaction in venting, shouting and marching against the realities of the vilified oligarchs and impotent government institutions, but what is it we can actually do besides showing up on the streets?
Rhetorically, I ask: "Are we just going to watch this disaster unfold and blog, write commentaries, post podcasts and otherwise report our observations passively as usual, or initiate; endorse and effect measures to quickly and effectively cool the seas and the poles to restore Holocene norms?"
Dozens upon dozens of scientists, engineers and other earth systems and technological experts around the globe have been and will continue to assess a wide array of means to #CoolTheArctic and #RestoreSeaLife, some of which are completely natural, or nature-mimicking, and others have potential risks which must be fully understood and compared head-to-head with the risks of not acting effectively and expediently.
I would suggest a paradigm shift from vilifying the monsters who perpetuate this growing catastrophe to making the plausible solutions and the risk-risk assessment transparent to the readership.
My 2¢ — thanks for allowing the open discussion on your platform. Meet for coffee?
The millions and millions of dead fish that landed on a Texas beach a week or so ago apparently suffocated, the water was too warm, not enough oxygen 😥.
And let's not forget animal agriculture, factory farms, and their huge contribution to climate change. They get big subsidies from tax money, much more than farmers who grow grain and vegetables. Ag companies are just as evil as fossil fuel corporations. I don't understand why nobody pushes strongly for plant-based diets.
The Hydrocarbon Hellspawn are incorrigible. Their biosphere degrading "business model" (see my graphic below) has always been criminally insane. They are ALL Social Darwinists. THAT is why they really believe that when nine tenths of humanity, and most of the other high order mammalian vertebrates, perish in a gargantuan die-off from hydrocarbon burning hell, all the fossil fuelers have to do is make sure they have good air conditioning until all the "unfit" humans and animals are all dead.
The Washington Post ran an interesting article yesterday about the unprecedented ocean warmth that has developed over the past few months. https://wapo.st/3Xc8syq
The SST chart is disturbing. Hurricanes are driven by warm waters and (around the US) are deterred in El Nino years. If we have a decent crop of hurricanes this year, those alarm bells can really go off.
Apparently your attention is misplaced. The trick here is to exercise restraint, otherwise you contribute to the partisan politics which have nothing to offer. To answer your question, though rhetorical, a viable alternative is for you to do as much as you can, in the most positive, constructive sense.
JP - Thanks for your comment. You seem to suggest that the status quo, i.e. Joe Biden, is better than taking a chance with RFK Jr. The former talks a good line about climate then continues to green light fossil fuels development. The latter appears concerned about the serious impacts of "green" industrialization and has lots of questions about current policy. He's an environmentalist at heart and shows flexibility in his thinking. The truth of the matter is that unless a political leader is brave enough to explain the need to draw down energy consumption and promotes policies that do so, McKibben will be writing essays such as this for many years to come. Scale down! It's the only way out of this climate mess and the only way to tone down our destruction of other life on Earth. It's morally as well as pragmatically imperative that we do so. See https://scaledown.substack.com
My comment relates purely to the need for restraint. Binary arguments of x is better than y aren't productive.
I agree that the responsibility for the planet rests on us as individuals. It is better to put one's fire into legal action to delay and halt trans-national corporations acting on the mistaken belief that their fiduciary responsibility transcends their moral responsibility. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Just a bit more (and then I promise, I’ll stop), this email was sent to my town and the other members of the Hunterdon Area Energy Cooperative:
Dear HAEC Members:
The BGS-RSCP (includes residential customers’ accounts) was held on February 6, 2023, which resulted in a 4.8% increase for the average JCP&L customer and a 3.3% increase for the average PSE&G customer. All electric utilities in New Jersey have until 4/10/23 to submit their proposed BGS rates to the BPU for approval. For right now, we wait for the new tariff rates to by posted by the utilities. Once the BGS rates for Energy Year 2023-2024 are posted, we will look at market pricing and schedule an auction if it makes sense. The 3.3% and 4.8% increases in the PSE&G and JCP&L BGS rates are somewhat helpful in closing the gap between the utilities’ prices-to-compare and current market conditions; however, the energy market remains volatile. Also, pricing for renewable energy continues to remain higher than current utility default pricing (basic service generation “BGS”). This is mainly because the BGS rates with the utilities are currently lower than the electric power marketplace due to the way the utilities in New Jersey purchase energy via the BGS Auction and the 3-year averaging of auction power pricing.
I’m extremely frustrated because there are so many towns who not only want to use our massive purchasing power to save money on electricity but also want to use that power to “opt-up” to renewables.. and can’t. I suspect that our state, in spite of claiming to do the right thing, has rigged the market against us.
Dear Bill - Huge fan of your writing and activism. I’m hoping you can help me understand how energy aggregation works. I live in NJ which underwent energy deregulation a while back. I worked with my local govt to enter an aggregated energy cooperative a couple years ago but we are still not able to do anything because the market is very volatile (likely due to the war in Ukraine) and pricing of renewables, we’ve been told, is still too high. My cynical brain is telling me this is likely due to natural gas being strongly favored in our state, but could there be any other reason? Your thoughts and insight would be greatly appreciated!
i'll do my best to do some reporting on this at some point, but in the menatime i would get in touch with the folks at Rewiring America, or at Solar United Neighbors
Thank you for your kind reply! Bc the energy suppliers arent able to process the net metering portion of solar credits, anyone who has panels can’t join the program unless they are ok w losing them. I don’t understand how we’re supposed to be able to do anything at scale. And this is in a dark blue state such as NJ.
The presentation of RFKs views on climate science is incomplete and misleading. His action plan for the protection of our planet has been completely omitted. To all readers. Think for yourselves. Listen to extended interviews, not sound bites.
The Deluge by Stephen Markley gets it right. No matter how bad the disasters, storms, fires, floods -- fossil fuels industry pumps and burns, hedge funds make money, and governments appoint a study commissions.
Thank you for these writings. I am appalled at the unwillingness and inability of governments to rein in the corporations that are turning our planet into a living hell. For those folks with modest funds looking to donate, who would you recommend as organizations that are taking the most effective action to slow the march to doom? And is there anyone you recommend who is taking positive action, like Boyan Slat and the Ocean Cleanup? Thanks in advance for any recommendations.
who has the details of September in New York? Thanks for summing up multiple intersecting terrifying disasters that way too many are still oblivious to.
Until the wealthiest 800 people on earth - roughly one in ten million of us - feels that their lives and their assets (homes, investments, personal jets, yachts, etc.) are seriously threatened in the very near term, nothing significant will change. So somehow we who want to save enough of the climate for humans to survive at a level above the neolithic need to figure out how to directly put the lives and profits of the world's wealthiest at immediate risk unless they use their influence and political/economic power to pressure governments to start doing "the right things" on climate and energy.
Agreed.
I believe the root cause of all this inexcusible biosphere degrading modus operandi among TPTB is the morally bankrupt Social Darwinist ideology they ALL believe in with every fiber of their depraved being.
The myth that life should be harsh & unforgiving & builds character. is based on Social Darwinism. THAT is what Social Darwinists work day and night to force on us so ALL of us will have no option but to live in a "might equals right" Darwinist mad max 'kill or be killed' barbaric society.
June 8, 2023
SNIPPET:
The message of the Tarzan books, says sociologist Michael Kimmel, is that descending the evolutionary ladder is the only mechanism to retrieve manhood.” This is a severely stunted, shrunken, truncated view of human nature.
From the time of the classical Greeks and Romans, virtue had been defined as the restraint of the “lower” passions by the “higher” faculties of reason, spirit, and moral will. But Darwinism was taken to mean that humans had triumphed over the other species <i>not by reason and moral restraint but by the fierce, fighting urges.
In a stunning reversal, the animal passions and instincts were held up as the authentic self.
The secular script for manhood was redefined as crude and combative, governed by the biological instincts for lust and power.
Read more:
The Toxic War on Masculinity by Social Darwinists
https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/sound-christian-doctrine/darwin/msg1112/#msg1112
June 14, 2023
Republican Social Darwinists CHAMPION CHILD EXPLOITATION
https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/who-can-you-trust/corruption-in-government/msg1114/#msg1114
Thank you for this outstanding and wide-ranging reporting and analysis. The first-ever trial arguing that a safe climate is a constitutional right is happening this week and next in Montana. I think readers would benefit from your take on it. Will you be writing about the trial?
absolutely and thanks for the reminder
The reckless nihilism around the climate catastrophe mirrors the collective shrug in the aftermath of Covid, after the deaths of millions.
it's a very good point
Thanks for the info on RFK Jr. His father must be rolling over in his grave.
My sentiments exactly. Well, I'm a bit torn. His uncle and his father assassinated. His mother badly lacking in the maternal qualities department. Yet, some of his siblings came out fine. But whatever the reasons for his behavior, he certainly has crazy notions that could be quite destructive. And I hate to think what could happen if he gets on the ballot.
Excellent reporting, Bill, as usual. Terrible temperature trend heading to a target TBD.
On a positive note, yesterday (my 76th birthday) I took delivery of an EV to replace my PZEV Crosstrek, so my transportation and home (powered by carbon-free sunlight via my 2019 installed solar PV array and cold climate heat pumps) are now completely carbon neutral. What's left to neutralize is my vegan diet.
My point in disclosing this is not pride, ego, conceit or narcissism, rather to make a point that even if every person on the planet were to become carbon neutral instantaneously on their next birthday, in a year's time, there would be no impact on the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere and oceans, and the temperature would continue to rise based on the latest assessment of James Hansen and 17 international scientists in his December 13, 2022, preprint and May 23, 2023, update of "Global warming in the pipeline."
It really does not matter whether Dr. Hansen or Dr. Mann—who along with Mark Hertsgaard at Covering Climate Now and other like-minded colleagues believes in "The best climate science you've never heard of"—is right or wrong. In either case, the reality of the situation is that we won't decarbonize for several decades, so our current 1.5°C target and even the discarded 2°C target will be "overshot" and any hope of returning to Holocene norms is on the distant horizon.
Your readers may feel satisfaction in venting, shouting and marching against the realities of the vilified oligarchs and impotent government institutions, but what is it we can actually do besides showing up on the streets?
Rhetorically, I ask: "Are we just going to watch this disaster unfold and blog, write commentaries, post podcasts and otherwise report our observations passively as usual, or initiate; endorse and effect measures to quickly and effectively cool the seas and the poles to restore Holocene norms?"
Dozens upon dozens of scientists, engineers and other earth systems and technological experts around the globe have been and will continue to assess a wide array of means to #CoolTheArctic and #RestoreSeaLife, some of which are completely natural, or nature-mimicking, and others have potential risks which must be fully understood and compared head-to-head with the risks of not acting effectively and expediently.
I would suggest a paradigm shift from vilifying the monsters who perpetuate this growing catastrophe to making the plausible solutions and the risk-risk assessment transparent to the readership.
My 2¢ — thanks for allowing the open discussion on your platform. Meet for coffee?
The millions and millions of dead fish that landed on a Texas beach a week or so ago apparently suffocated, the water was too warm, not enough oxygen 😥.
And let's not forget animal agriculture, factory farms, and their huge contribution to climate change. They get big subsidies from tax money, much more than farmers who grow grain and vegetables. Ag companies are just as evil as fossil fuel corporations. I don't understand why nobody pushes strongly for plant-based diets.
The Hydrocarbon Hellspawn are incorrigible. Their biosphere degrading "business model" (see my graphic below) has always been criminally insane. They are ALL Social Darwinists. THAT is why they really believe that when nine tenths of humanity, and most of the other high order mammalian vertebrates, perish in a gargantuan die-off from hydrocarbon burning hell, all the fossil fuelers have to do is make sure they have good air conditioning until all the "unfit" humans and animals are all dead.
http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-110217171320.png
I am not holding my breath waiting for Humility to gain precedence over Greed in human affairs.
May God have mercy on us all.
The Washington Post ran an interesting article yesterday about the unprecedented ocean warmth that has developed over the past few months. https://wapo.st/3Xc8syq
Never heard your voice so clear Bill.
The SST chart is disturbing. Hurricanes are driven by warm waters and (around the US) are deterred in El Nino years. If we have a decent crop of hurricanes this year, those alarm bells can really go off.
McKibben apparently dislikes RFK Jr. but what's the alternative? Joe Biden? What joke!
Apparently your attention is misplaced. The trick here is to exercise restraint, otherwise you contribute to the partisan politics which have nothing to offer. To answer your question, though rhetorical, a viable alternative is for you to do as much as you can, in the most positive, constructive sense.
JP - Thanks for your comment. You seem to suggest that the status quo, i.e. Joe Biden, is better than taking a chance with RFK Jr. The former talks a good line about climate then continues to green light fossil fuels development. The latter appears concerned about the serious impacts of "green" industrialization and has lots of questions about current policy. He's an environmentalist at heart and shows flexibility in his thinking. The truth of the matter is that unless a political leader is brave enough to explain the need to draw down energy consumption and promotes policies that do so, McKibben will be writing essays such as this for many years to come. Scale down! It's the only way out of this climate mess and the only way to tone down our destruction of other life on Earth. It's morally as well as pragmatically imperative that we do so. See https://scaledown.substack.com
My comment relates purely to the need for restraint. Binary arguments of x is better than y aren't productive.
I agree that the responsibility for the planet rests on us as individuals. It is better to put one's fire into legal action to delay and halt trans-national corporations acting on the mistaken belief that their fiduciary responsibility transcends their moral responsibility. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Just a bit more (and then I promise, I’ll stop), this email was sent to my town and the other members of the Hunterdon Area Energy Cooperative:
Dear HAEC Members:
The BGS-RSCP (includes residential customers’ accounts) was held on February 6, 2023, which resulted in a 4.8% increase for the average JCP&L customer and a 3.3% increase for the average PSE&G customer. All electric utilities in New Jersey have until 4/10/23 to submit their proposed BGS rates to the BPU for approval. For right now, we wait for the new tariff rates to by posted by the utilities. Once the BGS rates for Energy Year 2023-2024 are posted, we will look at market pricing and schedule an auction if it makes sense. The 3.3% and 4.8% increases in the PSE&G and JCP&L BGS rates are somewhat helpful in closing the gap between the utilities’ prices-to-compare and current market conditions; however, the energy market remains volatile. Also, pricing for renewable energy continues to remain higher than current utility default pricing (basic service generation “BGS”). This is mainly because the BGS rates with the utilities are currently lower than the electric power marketplace due to the way the utilities in New Jersey purchase energy via the BGS Auction and the 3-year averaging of auction power pricing.
I’m extremely frustrated because there are so many towns who not only want to use our massive purchasing power to save money on electricity but also want to use that power to “opt-up” to renewables.. and can’t. I suspect that our state, in spite of claiming to do the right thing, has rigged the market against us.
Dear Bill - Huge fan of your writing and activism. I’m hoping you can help me understand how energy aggregation works. I live in NJ which underwent energy deregulation a while back. I worked with my local govt to enter an aggregated energy cooperative a couple years ago but we are still not able to do anything because the market is very volatile (likely due to the war in Ukraine) and pricing of renewables, we’ve been told, is still too high. My cynical brain is telling me this is likely due to natural gas being strongly favored in our state, but could there be any other reason? Your thoughts and insight would be greatly appreciated!
i'll do my best to do some reporting on this at some point, but in the menatime i would get in touch with the folks at Rewiring America, or at Solar United Neighbors
Thank you for your kind reply! Bc the energy suppliers arent able to process the net metering portion of solar credits, anyone who has panels can’t join the program unless they are ok w losing them. I don’t understand how we’re supposed to be able to do anything at scale. And this is in a dark blue state such as NJ.
The presentation of RFKs views on climate science is incomplete and misleading. His action plan for the protection of our planet has been completely omitted. To all readers. Think for yourselves. Listen to extended interviews, not sound bites.
The Deluge by Stephen Markley gets it right. No matter how bad the disasters, storms, fires, floods -- fossil fuels industry pumps and burns, hedge funds make money, and governments appoint a study commissions.
Thank you for these writings. I am appalled at the unwillingness and inability of governments to rein in the corporations that are turning our planet into a living hell. For those folks with modest funds looking to donate, who would you recommend as organizations that are taking the most effective action to slow the march to doom? And is there anyone you recommend who is taking positive action, like Boyan Slat and the Ocean Cleanup? Thanks in advance for any recommendations.
who has the details of September in New York? Thanks for summing up multiple intersecting terrifying disasters that way too many are still oblivious to.
i'll be following up on it regularly!
There's going to be a massive marhc againt fossil fuels on Sep 17th, the eve of the UN conference.