#CauseForOptimism: Climate Change in 12 Minutes
I admit, I'm a bit of an Elon Musk fan-boy. I find him brilliant, inspiring, and admirable in terms of his "big-picture" thinking with regard to the future of humanity. This is the guy pioneering private space flight with SpaceX, electric vehicles with Tesla, solar roof systems with Tesla Solar Shingles, and countless other cutting-edge endeavors.
So I especially enjoyed his short, crystal-clear explanation of climate change:
He puts this in the same blunt, accessible terms I remember from the classic nonfiction book Our Angry Earth: A Ticking Ecological Bomb, penned by two of my SF idols, Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl. After explaining that we will inevitably be forced to go down the renewable energy path (because fossil fuels are after all a finite, non-renewable resource) -- and displaying a jaw-dropping chart of how the CO2 level has exploded upward in the past few decades after 10 million years of minor fluctuations around 300 ppm -- he nails our current (at least in the U.S.) approach to carbon pollution without consequence as "the dumbest experiment in history - ever."
Who can argue with that assessment, when you consider what's at stake?
But, despite the scary implications of the current trend lines, I'm finding more and more cause for optimism. The price of solar and wind energy continues to fall, and adoption rates (even in the U.S., in the face of a total lack of federal leadership) continue to rise. And our younger generation (Generation Z?) gets it. You can see the energy (hopefully renewable? ;-) behind their efforts to exact justice against fossil fuel companies and/or intransigent governments in a series of lawsuits both in the U.S. and abroad:
So what does this mean? I think it means that the tide is turning. The younger generation fully appreciates the potential impact, and the effect it may have on them and their children; voters in many nations around the world are tired of hearing politicians dismiss the problem as a "hoax" or as "too expensive to address." Most of the globe is moving forward, determined to solve the problem. If the U.S. government is hell-bent on ignoring the reality, other countries are stepping up to lead the way. And everyday Americans are still working to advance the cause, in spite of the complete impotence of their elected leaders.
Our most innovative entrepreneurs are on board. Almost all world governments are on board. Our youngest, most visionary citizens are leading the way. That's a recipe for success, in my opinion. Very encouraging! I only hope and pray I live to see how the younger generation undoes the climate damage my generation has wrought.
So I especially enjoyed his short, crystal-clear explanation of climate change:
He puts this in the same blunt, accessible terms I remember from the classic nonfiction book Our Angry Earth: A Ticking Ecological Bomb, penned by two of my SF idols, Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl. After explaining that we will inevitably be forced to go down the renewable energy path (because fossil fuels are after all a finite, non-renewable resource) -- and displaying a jaw-dropping chart of how the CO2 level has exploded upward in the past few decades after 10 million years of minor fluctuations around 300 ppm -- he nails our current (at least in the U.S.) approach to carbon pollution without consequence as "the dumbest experiment in history - ever."
Who can argue with that assessment, when you consider what's at stake?
But, despite the scary implications of the current trend lines, I'm finding more and more cause for optimism. The price of solar and wind energy continues to fall, and adoption rates (even in the U.S., in the face of a total lack of federal leadership) continue to rise. And our younger generation (Generation Z?) gets it. You can see the energy (hopefully renewable? ;-) behind their efforts to exact justice against fossil fuel companies and/or intransigent governments in a series of lawsuits both in the U.S. and abroad:
Four climate change lawsuits to watch in 2018
So what does this mean? I think it means that the tide is turning. The younger generation fully appreciates the potential impact, and the effect it may have on them and their children; voters in many nations around the world are tired of hearing politicians dismiss the problem as a "hoax" or as "too expensive to address." Most of the globe is moving forward, determined to solve the problem. If the U.S. government is hell-bent on ignoring the reality, other countries are stepping up to lead the way. And everyday Americans are still working to advance the cause, in spite of the complete impotence of their elected leaders.
Our most innovative entrepreneurs are on board. Almost all world governments are on board. Our youngest, most visionary citizens are leading the way. That's a recipe for success, in my opinion. Very encouraging! I only hope and pray I live to see how the younger generation undoes the climate damage my generation has wrought.
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