There’s a lot going on but nothing’s more important than the damage climate change is and will be doing. It’s already extremely painful, deadly and will keep getting worse.
The question isn’t what we can do by 2050. It’s what we have to do now to avert major change. We’ve already missed tipping points. Global warming’s been melting glaciers and ice sheets that reflected heat from the sun back into space. Global warming’s already stoked huge fires that are sending carbon up into our atmosphere, destroying trees that shaded the ground, trees that converted the sun’s rays into green growth, and replacing them with naked ground that absorbs heat and leaves us hotter. This isn’t about 2050; it’s about now.
Politicians shudder if any sacrifice is required. My starting point is what’s necessary and then getting it done. Dealing with climate change is more like war – it will require sacrifice from all of us. We need a better electric grid – build it. We need to stop making gas engines – convert the factories. We need to replace coal, oil and gas plants with systems much better for the environment – replace them. We need to discourage the use of fossil fuels by taxing them – fix the tax code. We need a single approach – get the job done now.
Stop worrying about government and regulation. Individual efforts won’t be enough to do those jobs in time and at scale. Government is essential to get everyone on board.
Jobs? Taking care of jobs and workers is the right thing to do plus we won’t get the job done without everyone on board. Everybody has a right to a job and a decent income, and if private industry won’t provide them, there are plenty of public service jobs that we don’t fund because they’re [quote] “too expensive.” Forget it – we’ve got to be willing to help each other during the transition – that’s not “too expensive;” it’s absolutely necessary. And if providing more public services strikes you wrong, a productive solution is to expand education to prepare people for better and different jobs. Do both. On a war footing, nothing is “too expensive.” And this is war – for survival – for ourselves, our children and grandchildren, our spouses, parents, relatives and friends.
Lots of us were unhappy about Biden’s deal with Manchin that allowed more drilling and a new pipeline. Me too. But I didn’t blame Biden for doing his best to get the most he could past Congress. It’s our job to elect a Congress that will give the president whatever is needed to fight climate change – indeed a Congress that will force whoever is president to do everything necessary in this war.
Forget the folk who think patriotism is about waving the flag and claiming they’re better than everybody else. Real patriots willingly sacrifice for America’s survival to protect its people. Everyone else is an imposter. CEOs of the major companies have to get on board, or they’re no better than traitors. Politicians at every level have got to accept that this is war and they have to get on board or be driven out of public life like we once did to people labeled “un-American.” This is a you’re-with-us-or-you’re-against-us moment and there’s no room for shirkers.
You can leave a comment on my blog and tell me what would get more people to do more to protect the world we live in for the people we cherish.
— If you think I’m on target, please pass it on. For the podcast, please click here. This commentary was scheduled for broadcast on WAMC Northeast Report, on August 8, 2023.
Constitutionalism and Democracy 
Dear Prof. Gottlieb, I would like to thank you for your service – in more ways than one. I penned a term paper in 1973 in this regard, long before the topic of climate change became a common talking point. In a previous commentary, you had mentioned population control. Although this might have its merits, it’s less than ten percent (-/+) that is responsible for the problem. Plus, how does one go about implementing this? Siting the lonely bachelors resulting in China’s one child policy. Not to mention public pension systems. Of course, education seems to dampen the number of children a given family might produce, but as you know, the devil’s in the details as to implementation. As an automotive engineer, I realize that electric automobiles have undeniable advantages. For one thing, the motor has only one moving part. And we’ll get there, siting recent legislation/s. However, if we’re serious about moving the needle (soon), policies have to be more nuanced than ‘diesels – bad!’ (for example). I recently had to go back to the drawing board because auto companies are discontinuing diesels worldwide, while freight trains, shipping, and airplanes (kerosene, which will remain due to energy density issues) continue. Internal combustion engines in existing vehicles (currently produced) will be transversing motorways for decades. But not all of them need to run on fossil fuels. Neither do the for mentioned modes of transportation. The corporate overlords at Exon/Mobile could (if they wanted to) produce algae with little effort. Existing pipelines could be repurposed (depending), thus maintaining the jobs of people who look after them. Oil barges on the Mississippi can also serve in the same capacity. Diesel engines running on algae solve the particulate problem considerably , whilst reducing Co2 emissions by 80 percent. The car I was sorting was capable of running on all electric power while sporting a range of over 1200 miles, running on electric/algae @ 140 mpg. But, due to hastily conceived (or perhaps, political) policies (and probably the Volkswagen emissions scandal), this is not to be. I’ll be using a petrol engine in this hybrid instead. Why a hybrid? Harry Shearer’s Tesla didn’t quite make it to a ‘super bloom’ (flowers) in Northern California. I have friends in the UK who own electric cars that can’t find enough charging stations to make it to Scotland – or Shewsbury. Of course, this will change, but in the meantime…
Which is my point. We NEED to have this discussion. When I first bought it up fifty years ago, it fell on deaf ears. There is a way to combat climate change, thus avoiding a lot of suffering, …while avoiding a lot of suffering. Plus, a more ‘gradual’ but very effective approach might prove helpful in getting people on board. And yes, governmental policies are necessary. The next ten years are going to be …interesting. Again – Thanks.
There is no simple answer to the question here, but … one problem is described in “How to swim with the sharks…” that people will on average agree with the loudest most assertive person in a room, sometimes even when they know that person is wrong. Philosopher Aaron James explores this problem more deeply in his work “Assholes: A Theory”. The bipartisan common enemy is Assholes, as defined by James. Most of us can find common ground, globally, in our universal distaste for Assholes. As much as I might sound like I’m joking, I’m also dead serious – dialectics. The documentary “Kiss The Ground” offers solutions for people that transcend party and nation. Thank you for your words!