Post by Admin on Nov 7, 2019 9:04:31 GMT
Educate ourselves. This takes effort, but if it’s the defining issue of this century — if climate change can modify your behavior, direct your tax money, and tell you whom to vote for, it makes sense to spend some of your time learning more*. This rabbit hole is astonishingly deep — it takes time to learn what’s really going on. If you read/watch the * items and still have questions, please contact me, and I’ll do my best to answer: david@businessagilityworkshop.com.
Call for the dismissal of the IPCC, UNFCC, and the UNSDSN. These organizations are doing more harm than good, putting politics ahead of science. We must effectively make them ineffective.
Stop the carbon credits. There are perverse incentives to set up carbon credit markets, and they distract from the main goals of improving the lives of people and the environment. Thankfully, most carbon markets are already tanking by themselves.
Fund proper metastudies. We simply don’t have good metastudies of the literature. We have one on temperature* and one on ocean acidification*, both of which support my conclusions here, but we need more. Since we are spending hundreds of billions each year on decarbonization, our first priority should be to allocate $10m to a systematic literature review done by metastudy specialists, not by politicians, climatologists, or magazines.
Clean up smoke emissions. Coal-based energy can be cleaned up, but we’re spending the majority of our money trying to figure out how to capture the carbon rather than all the bad stuff. Let’s go after smog, which kills at least 3 million people every year, and indoor air pollution, which kills at least 4 million people a year. Not only do we have good technology now, support of this market will drive more innovation and lower prices.
Provide affordable energy for all. We could use some of the decarbonization budget to build energy infrastructure in developing countries that have none. Alternatives like solar are not getting close to replacing power plants, but they certainly have their place. Wind energy has its own problems. We will be burning fossil fuels for the foreseeable future — let’s do it right and help lift billions out of poverty.
Invest in adaptation. Sea level is going to rise no matter what, but not quickly and not much. Regional water shortages and powerful storms are real threats that are here today. We should prepare for those threats now and pursue practical solutions to medium-term problems.
Invest in better medium-range forecasts. One of the most sensible suggestions I have heard: if we had good forecasts 2–3 months out, we could better prepare for disastrous weather events.
Invest in next-generation nuclear power. We will build thousands of power plants this century. Most of the money we’re planning to spend on decarbonization should go into producing the next generation of nuclear reactors. Fourth-generation molten-salt nuclear reactors will be safer, cleaner, and more cost-efficient.
Reach Out to Corporations. Many companies support decarbonization, spending billions of dollars that could be invested in new solutions. A commitment to nuclear power might be less popular but better for all.
Use the Paris climate conference to get the word out. There’s a big PR event coming up in December. Undoubtedly, there will be another emotional film with apocalyptic images. The WWF has already started:
It’s serious. The (money) stakes are higher than you might think. Science has nothing to do with it — this is about strengthening the decarbonization lobby. Hillary Clinton and John Kerry will magically pop up. Shabby-chic celebrities will photobomb the event, trying to look good doing good. The only thing that can stop this train is brand names speaking out, raising doubts, promoting more sensible solutions.
Reach out to the press. Mainstream publications have already decided the issue. I challenge a media-studies organization, like the Pew Research Center, to look hard at the issues and create a report that guides editors toward a more neutral and inclusive tone. A group like the Science Media Centre should take their own advice and look critically at climate science and wrongheaded claims.
Reach out to people you know. I realize you don’t want to be seen as a climate “denier.” Take it a step at a time. Ask questions. Send links to this article to friends, family, and people you know. You can just say “Hey, can you please read this and tell me what you think?” Use the hashtag #climatecurious to get your Twitter followers to come check it out.
Talk with educators. Think of kids who are truly concerned and want to do something for the planet. Their text books predict a scary, hellish future. If everyone who reads this can get one teacher to start questioning the dogma, we may have a chance to start teaching children to be critical thinkers and investigate for themselves.
Reach out to prominent liberals. If you know Bill Gates, Jeff Skoll, Mike Bloomberg, Gwyneth Paltrow, George Clooney, Leo DiCaprio, @ev, Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Taylor Swift, Michael Moore, Laurie David, @vkhosla, @johndoerr, or others interested in the climate issue, please send him/her to this page. We have to face the issue of fear and intimidation. Can you imagine Matt Damon holding a press conference to say he’s now a climate skeptic? Bring this up at a Beverly Hills cocktail party and you’re going to lose friends faster than you can say “vaccination.” What if Hillary Clinton told a reporter she’s “not so sure” about climate change?
But think about the choice we make not to look into this issue. Can we really afford to let the decarbonization lobby hijack our priorities, when so much else needs to be done at a critical time for the environment?
I’m not asking you to “get involved.” I’m asking you to investigate and talk about it. Your active questions and conversations will do the job. I invite anyone who has read this to contact me to just spend some time learning and talking about how we can help open minds. Jon Stewart — I’d like to talk with you. Gates Foundation— I have a proposal for you. My email is david@businessagilityworkshop.com.
