In the piece below, the author asks, "Why is the government putting big money behind dubious carbon capture projects that specifically benefit Big Oil and help delay climate action?"
Spoiler: It's capitalism.
You probably already knew that, but the article does a great job of explaining exactly why subsidizing carbon capture is such a disastrous policy choice, and why the Biden administration nevertheless is pouring billions of dollars into it...
Record heat waves. Widespread fires. Devastating storms. The tragic toll of climate change is becoming more evident every day.
To avoid even more severe impacts in the future, we must quickly and dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions — largely caused by fossil fuels. Fortunately, the tools we need to cut emissions through energy efficiency, renewable energy, and beyond are growing quickly, becoming better and more affordable over time.
We will also need some “carbon removal” in the future — where we use nature (with trees or soils) or industrial processes to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, sequester it, and keep it from adding to our climate woes.
In the last few years, more attention has focused on industrial methods, because they can bury carbon in permanent, geologic reservoirs, unlike trees and soils that can burn down or be plowed up. In principle, this makes sense. But in practice, industrial carbon removal is wildly expensive, far too energy and resource intensive, and only removes pathetically small amounts of carbon. It’s nowhere near being a viable solution to climate change.
For the foreseeable future, cutting emissions is the most feasible means of addressing climate change. And whatever carbon removal we might eventually develop should only be used to address the final, hard-to-abate emissions left after fossil fuels are phased out. Most of all, carbon removal should never be used as a substitute for cutting emissions, or to help delay phasing out fossil fuels.
So why is the federal government doing exactly the opposite — putting big money behind dubious carbon capture projects, in ways that specifically benefit Big Oil and help delay climate action?
Planting a large variety of new trees is a good thing. It’s good for the climate, it’s good for human well-being, and it’s good for biodiversity.
Creating monoculture tree plantations is NOT a good thing. They don’t do much for biodiversity and they are at great risk of pest infestation, disease, drought, and ultimately being destroyed by wildfires. The only value of monoculture tree plantations is — from a capitalist perspective — to claim spurious carbon offsets, thereby allowing the continuation of Business As Usual and the endless consumption of fossil fuels.
Cutting down existing trees, especially in old-growth forests, is a terrible thing to do. There is no justification for it, outside of someone finding a way to make lots of money by desecrating nature.
Here is part of the conclusion from a report on "Forests and Decarbonization: Roles of Natural and Planted Forests"...
Realizing the greatest possible benefits of tree planting requires sensitivity to both ecological and sociological contexts. Wherever possible, we should protect carbon stocks in natural ecosystems, including savannas, grasslands, and both undisturbed and naturally regenerating forests. However, there is also an important role for managed forests: planting can reduce pressure on unmanaged forests, and yield wood products that may displace fossil fuels. Ultimately, however, tree planting is not a panacea to mitigate climate change, as only immediate and drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Tengo la impresión de que no se está insistiendo mucho en los medios sobre la posible relación entre inflación y el aumento de la meteorología extrema por el cambio climático.
Me recuerda este artículo de @WIRED que los últimos meses han sido terribles para muchas cosechas ... (1/3)
Despite what apologists for capitalism (some even here on Mastodon!) would have you believe, it is possible for humans to live comfortably and sustainably within a system that does not rely on deception, oppression, and exploitation.
It’s so important to remember that capitalism is an extremely recent invention. For almost all of humanity's 200,000+ years of existence, we got along just fine without it, living mostly in harmony with our surroundings.
Our only hope at this point is to get rid of the system that is literally killing us. It’s a matter of survival not only for humans but for countless other animal and plant species being sacrificed on the altar of maximum profits and infinite growth.
So, I may be a "doomsayer" (I consider myself a realist), but I'm always trying to see if there's a solution to getting us out of the mess we're in. Perhaps I would describe myself as an optimistic pessimist. Anyhow, based on my recent research, here are some of the solutions I think we (humanity) should pursue collectively...
Plug up the #MethaneLeaks! Seriously! That's a big part of the problem!
Make the price of #meat expensive! I remember when having meat was considered a special occasion -- not a daily occurrence.
Make things out of #RomanConcrete. Now that we've cracked the recipe, there's no excuse not to use it! Especially with rising sea levels (Roman concrete holds up better when exposed to water).
Manufacture stuff that lasts! No more #PlannedObsolescence -- items that can't be upgraded and/or repaired by a skilled user or a local repair shop!
Utilize new (and ancient) technologies to the max! #SolarPrisms, reflective white paint, building new structures with #skywells, #geothermal and other ways to cool/heat spaces without using #FossilFuels!
That's just a few off the top of my head. I think a lot of the solutions are right in front of us -- but #greed and #Oligarchy are keeping them from being implemented!
"An alliance of #rightwing groups has crafted an extensive presidential proposal to bolster the planet-heating #oil and #gas industry and hamstring the #EnergyTransition.
#Project2025, was convened by the notorious rightwing, #climate-denying thinktank the Heritage Foundation, which has ties to fossil fuel billionaire Charles Koch."
US citizens: please vote, and organize your friends. It's you against the #FossilFuel industry. The stakes are high.
"Called #Project2025, it would block the expansion of the electrical #grid for #wind and #solar energy; slash funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental justice office; shutter the Energy Department’s #RenewableEnergy offices; prevent states from adopting California’s car #pollution standards; and delegate more regulation of polluting industries to Republican state officials."
Wow. Jag Bhalla offers one of the most sensible, thought-provoking, and wholly convincing articles I have ever read.
Title: "Climate Optimism Is Dangerous and Irrational"
Subtitle: "Overly-confident math models based on unrealistic assumptions are used to avoid crisis-consistent climate policies and to protect global elite privilege, while abandoning our duties to the planet’s most vulnerable."
It includes these section headings:
‣ The IPCC’s Official Modeling Malarkey
‣ The Worst Offenders: The Economists
I hope you can take the time to read the entire article. It's very long, extremely well-researched, and completely devastating.
This is near the conclusion...
Climate change is not just going to be “apocalyptic,” it’s already apocalyptic.
It’s just that the apocalypse is not something that happens to the entire world at once. Instead, the apocalyptic events are experienced mostly by the world’s poorest people (who, incidentally, have contributed the least to creating the problem). Who, witnessing the scale of flooding in Pakistan last year, could possibly say that the climate crisis is not “apocalyptic,” unless you regard Pakistanis as unpeople whose well-being simply doesn’t factor into the equation? 33 million people were displaced, and millions of homes destroyed.
When white Western elites publish books with titles like "It’s Not The End of The World" or "Apocalypse Never" or "False Alarm", what they mean is “it’s not the end of the world for people like me,” “apocalyptic conditions will never be experienced by my sector of society,” and “those of us who are among the world’s richest do not need to be alarmed.”
Of course, even these are false comforts — the mansions of Malibu are flammable, after all.
You often hear that so-and-so much #GlobalWarming is "baked in", that is, the world keeps on warming on the #GreenhouseGases already emitted.
"The best available evidence shows that, on the contrary, warming is likely to more or less stop once #CarbonDioxide (CO2) #emissions reach zero, meaning humans have the power to choose their #climate future."
"The significant increase in #tomato prices in #India, surpassing 400 per cent, can be linked to crop failure induced by extremely high temperatures and heavy #rainfall.
"Preston said many Canadian farmers are eager to adopt more sustainable means of production, but they need government support. Improving #soil health to make it more resilient to extreme rainfall, and increasing #biodiversity on farms, he said, will go a long way in adapting to a warming planet."
"#Oregon’s #cherry harvest, one of the state’s biggest sources of agricultural income, is in dire straits because of #ClimateChange this year, and growers need emergency relief."
#GOP rep:
“Unfortunately, our cherry producers have been facing severe hardships due to unprecedented and adverse weather conditions in Oregon such as ice storms, excessive #heat, and #wildfire smoke impacts caused by a warming #climate.”
"Futures prices for frozen concentrated #OrangeJuice have roughly doubled in the last year to more than $3 a pound and could rise further, prompting warnings that prices are set to surge further on the shelves."
As an avid #Dystopian fiction reader (and writer), the scenarios closest to I thought what we might experience is (IMHO) the novel "Dies The Fire", as well as "The Hunger Games". "Dies The Fires" / #Emberverse has an interesting fictional scenario -- guns don't work, and nuclear radiation is lessened. But even that "ideal" scenario is wrought with death, disease, discord, dictators -- the usual stuff that happens when societies break down. DTF does offer a glimmer of hope, but with #ClimateChange, I think even that bit of hope has been dashed. So yeah. #HungerGames, #Elites pitting us against each other for entertainment. That seems way more likely.
Too many people, even here on Mastodon, seem to be in denial about how bad things are likely to get on our current path. I suppose I can understand how they might wish the situation was different, and perhaps some of them aren't psychologically or emotionally ready to handle an honest look at the dire future we face, so they simply avoid it.
But I worry that almost everyone will be unprepared for the collapse of our fragile modern society when it comes.
Over a decade working with @DoctorsWithoutBorders before that I was freelance journalist and photographer.
Long list of past lives includes but not limited to: logistician, first responder, journalist, wilderness guide, survival instructor and hostile environment trainer.
Posts vary but are often related to humanitarian aid, gardening, resilience, #climatechange or wilderness type stuff.
They don’t need to have a majority, or anything even close to a plurality. All it takes is a few thousand sociopathic billionaires — the population of a village — to take full control of everything and then completely ruin our livable biosphere while further enriching themselves.
The scale on the image below is NOT exaggerated. In less than two centuries, and especially just within the last 30 years, capitalist oligarchs have burned so much coal, oil, and gas that our climate system simply can’t handle it.
It’s almost out of control now. But the people who are to blame have names and addresses.
Media Lens takes a look at the different ways people may respond to all of the potentially frightening signals about climate breakdown we've been seeing lately...
There are two key responses to news of the latest climate disasters:
‘It’s bad, but not that bad. It’s manageable and we can carry on pretty much as normal.’
An alternative take:
‘No, it is that bad. This is just the ball starting to roll – it will gather more and more and more momentum, and it won’t stop. We need drastic change now!‘
The second of these is inarguably correct. The first is the underlying message delivered by state-corporate media that have a vested interest in the status quo, in discouraging us from seeking serious change. Despite a mountain of evidence, we are assured that the crisis is under the management of fundamentally decent, rational leaders. And this is exactly why the level of public alarm does not yet reflect the terrifying, rollercoaster reality depicted in the soaring and crashing graphs measuring temperatures and ice coverage.
Professor Bill McGuire, Emeritus Professor of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College London, tweeted last month:
"I hope to God I am wrong, but to me it is looking increasingly as if we have reached some sort of tipping point, with the global temperature, sea-surface temperature, ice loss, and other parameters, all going through the roof."
McGuire was responding to reports headlined by CNN: "Four alarming charts that show just how extreme the climate is right now"
The report noted:
>> We’re only halfway through 2023 and so many climate records are being broken, some scientists are sounding the alarm, fearing it could be a sign of a planet warming much more rapidly than expected. <<
The ‘four alarming charts’ showed that global air temperatures have risen to record levels in 2023. Oceans are also heating up to record levels and show no sign of stopping. Antarctic sea ice is at record lows. And atmospheric carbon dioxide levels hit a new record high in 2023. But many of these records are not merely being broken, they are being obliterated.
Brian McNoldy, an expert in hurricanes and sea level rise at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School, captured it exactly:
"I know there are a million people sharing temperature anomaly charts and maps lately, but there’s a good reason for that. This is totally bonkers, and people who look at this stuff routinely can’t believe their eyes. Something very weird is happening."
The classified documents case will make use of a recording which indicates that #Trump had a highly sensitive document which he knew was NOT declassified.
The chain of evidence looks strong and while there is much news media spinning, a court of law is more rigorous environment where focus on fact is primary
Excellent report from #PBSNewsHour on #GOP candidates who have little to say on the extreme heat experienced by many Americans in the South, a geographical base of party support.
While GOP candidates acknowledge that #ClimateChange is real, they’re unwilling to acknowledge the impact of #FossilFuels
"#Ohio’s bill labeling gas as “green” appears to be more of a public relations stunt than anything. #Tennessee’s new law, on the other hand, has a specific, anti-#climate policy intent. It doesn’t just vaguely say that “#gas is #CleanEnergy;” it says that local governments attempting to set “clean energy” standards must include gas in that definition.
Three of the Tennessee bill’s co-sponsors are #ALEC members"
"Julia Olson, who founded #OurChildrensTrust, said the case marks the first time in #US history that the merits of a case led a court to rule that a government violated young people’s constitutional rights by promoting #FossilFuels.
“In a sweeping win for our clients, the Honorable Judge Kathy Seeley declared #Montana’s fossil fuel-promoting laws unconstitutional,” she said."
Great piece by @petergleick puts this win in perspective.
"The clear acceptance of the facts of #ClimateChange and the strength of climate science will make future attempts in court cases to dismiss climate science untenable. The case provides a roadmap for how to present the science, and clearly establishes the threat of climate harm to humans, future generations, and the environment, which will make it easier to do so in future cases."
"Until last week western #Canada had been enduring a cold spring but the rapid onset of #unseasonably high temperatures, in places 10-15C above the average for early May, is causing #fires and #flooding."
Wonder what it takes for #Alberta and Albertans to connect the dots.
"The #carbon toll of #Canada’s fires this year will likely far outweigh #emissions from its oil and gas, transport and agriculture sectors—combined.
Kurz’s estimate only covers direct emissions. But roughly the same amount of indirect emissions will be released when the dead remnants of scorched trees decompose in coming years, he says.
Meanwhile, the fire season is barely half over and doesn’t yet show signs of easing."
"In #Florida, Farmers stopped offering new #auto, #home and umbrella policies and said coverage for existing policyholders would not be renewed upon expiration. Though the state has been mired in a property #insurance crisis that companies and Florida politicians blame on costly legal disputes and litigation, Farmers did not cite those issues in its decision. Instead, it blamed the growing costs of #NaturalDisasters and construction."
"Since most #US#insurance companies are backed by international #reinsurance companies that cover other parts of the world, #homeowners everywhere will pay the price for #ClimateChange’s global effects."
"Besides the impact of #ClimateChange, land use planning in more exposed coastal and riverine areas, and urban sprawl into the wilderness, generate a hard-to-revert combination of high value exposure in higher risk environments. Protective measures need to be taken for insurance products to remain economical for such properties at high risk. It is high time to invest in more climate adaption."
"Dave Burt, one of the “Big Short” investors who correctly anticipated chaos in the US #SubprimeMortgage market in the 2000s, said #InsurancPremiums for wildfire protection were just $1.5bn in 2021; damages were six times bigger. A move by insurers to close that gap could result in a drop of up to $495bn in property values, he said."
This entire article is, as it says, a "discomfort blanket", sketching out the ways various sectors can be devastated by #ClimateChange.