Several questions about the climate crisis have emerged in recent decades. is it real When will it arrive? Is it man made? Can it be fixed? Will we fix it?
While some people believe the Earth is flat and the climate crisis is a hoax, the hottest day ever recorded on Earth was July 3, 2023, was immediately broken on July 4, 2023, and again on July 6 2023. This record is expected to be broken again and again. Since May, half of the US has faced extreme weather events. NOAA estimates that infrastructure damage from extreme climate events has cost the United States more than $850 billion over the past five years, not counting other impacts. Most Americans agree that the climate crisis is real and already here.
Scientific consensus is that the climate crisis is man-made. In the few hundred years since the start of the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric CO2 levels have increased ten times faster than the geological record. In addition, isotopic analysis confirms that fossil fuels are the source.
For weeks I have been presenting information from Fiekowsky and Douglis’ “Climate Restoration,” detailing how humanity can respond and even reverse the climate threat to humanity. By fully decarbonizing the global economy within the next 20 years and removing 30 percent of existing atmospheric carbon dioxide and returning to 300 ppm by 2050, we would ensure that we are leaving our children a habitable planet.
The technology to decarbonize the economy is already proven, already being manufactured, and beginning the rapid growth and price erosion that comes with increased mass production. The shift is being driven by growing climate concerns around the world, the inflationary and political unpredictability of dwindling fossil fuels, and the economic benefits of more energy-efficient renewable technologies.
The rising expenses for climate impacts include not only the replacement of damaged infrastructure, but also the increasing insurance costs for the entire infrastructure. The financial world is beginning to realize that a parched planet is bad for business and risks wiping out humanity. While there is still a long way to go, some believe that the transformation to decarbonization is now inevitable.
We can also remove significant amounts of existing atmospheric carbon dioxide. With sufficient funding, known systems can be scaled up over the next few years to levels that are proven to be habitable for humankind within two decades.
However, all of this hinges on the final question: WILL we fix it? Many sensible people think the answer is NO. There is still too much well-funded institutional resistance. We know that 45 years ago, ExxonMobil researchers reaffirmed the climate problem, but the company opted for short-term gains despite the risk of destroying the economy and began funding climate denial. ExxonMobil even funded think tanks to draft legislation to counter climate protests. Utilities like Florida Power & Light are using their political power to put the brakes on clean energy solutions like rooftop solar panels. A recent article in the Ukiah Daily Journal detailed opposition to the abolition of California’s fossil-fuel public employee pension funds because “fossil-fuel stocks make more money in the short term” without the long-term costs that crash the economy brings, even just to consider.
Think about it for a moment. Rather than working to make the planet habitable for our children, the goal is to maximize short-term gains: kill the economy for profit. Take it to the personal level. Do you want to make more money knowing it would mean someone else die young? Would you want more money if it meant you or your children dying young? How would you feel if someone else made more money by causing your children to die young? How important is a habitable planet for your future? What about your child’s future?
Our economy has been taken over by the idea that making money is the ONLY important issue. Above all, companies are under pressure to maximize short-term gains for shareholders and executives. B-Corporations, a special form of corporations, had to be formed to allow for consideration of worker safety, customer safety and environmental safety in the face of shareholder lawsuits.
This becomes particularly ridiculous given the climate crisis, in which there are no long-term economic winners, only losers. Overall.
Some resistance is ignorance, some is political partisanship, and some is grotesque greed. Each of us must decide: Is a habitable planet worth it? Then ensure our elected leaders are aware of our election and elect new ones as needed.
Crispin B. Hollinshead lives in Ukiah. For this and previous articles, see cbhollinshead.blogspot.com.
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