Thread for discussing climate change

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Here’s a timely Kurzgesagt video addressing the notion if we can actually make a difference reference Climate Change:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yiw6_JakZFc

tl;dc - You can’t, but you can vote for change makers, vote with your wallet, and then basically hold onto your ass as turd monsters deny reality.

- Doc

PS - Seriously watch the video. Kurzgesagt is always entertaining and well done. It’s worth your ten minutes.

[Atlanticmike]

Here’s a timely Kurzgesagt video addressing the notion if we can actually make a difference reference Climate Change:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yiw6_JakZFc

tl;dc - You can’t, but you can vote for change makers, vote with your wallet, and then basically hold onto your ass as turd monsters deny reality.

- Doc

PS - Seriously watch the video. Kurzgesagt is always entertaining and well done. It’s worth your ten minutes.

I watched it. Basically everything we do is killing the planet. Yeah, dude, you're in a cult, wake up before it's too late.

[Chap]

Yeah, dude, you're in a cult, wake up before it's too late.

And your say-so on this point is decisive ... why?

Naaah. I'll stick with the climate specialists who use the science I learned by years of hard work, and my own judgement formed by reading the evidence freely available for criticism .

The roofers? Sorry, in comparison they just don't carry much weight in such matters.

[Atlanticmike]

Yeah, dude, you're in a cult, wake up before it's too late.

And your say-so on this point is decisive ... why?

Naaah. I'll stick with the climate specialists who use the science I learned by years of hard work, and my own judgement formed by reading the evidence freely available for criticism .

The roofers? Sorry, in comparison they just don't carry much weight in such matters.

I'm happy for you! You keep believin those "climate specialist" till the day u die! You'll die happy I'm sure. Unless you don't know how to swim because any day now we are all going to be under water according to the "climate specialist", didn't u watch docs cool little video?

[Gunnar]

Yeah, dude, you're in a cult, wake up before it's too late.

And your say-so on this point is decisive ... why?

Naaah. I'll stick with the climate specialists who use the science I learned by years of hard work, and my own judgement formed by reading the evidence freely available for criticism .

The roofers? Sorry, in comparison they just don't carry much weight in such matters.

Hard decision, isn't? Whose views on climate change should be regarded as more credible? The overwhelming consensus of the vast majority of hardworking scientists who spent their entire careers diligently studying the the climate and all the chemistry and physics and human activities affecting it, or those of a professional roofer with little or no relevant scientific knowledge about the subject. Obviously the professional roofer, right? Because his ignorance is just as good as the vast, cumulative scientific knowledge and expertise of the overwhelming majority of the world's best scientists, right? Isn't that what democracy is all about?

[Atlanticmike]

And your say-so on this point is decisive ... why?

Naaah. I'll stick with the climate specialists who use the science I learned by years of hard work, and my own judgement formed by reading the evidence freely available for criticism .

The roofers? Sorry, in comparison they just don't carry much weight in such matters.

Hard decision, isn't? Whose views on climate change should be regarded as more credible? The over whelming consensus of the vast majority of hardworking scientists who spent their entire careers diligently studying the the climate and all the chemistry and physics and human activities affecting it, or those of a professional roofer with little or no relevant scientific knowledge about the subject. Obviously the professional roofer, right? Because his ignorance is just as good as the vast, cumulative scientific knowledge and expertise of the overwhelming majority of the world's best scientists, right? Isn't that what democracy is all about?

Oh my gosh! We are doomed as a country if people like you are so easily brainwashed into believing the world as we know it is about to end. Please wake up for our children's sake!

[Gunnar]

Oh my gosh! We are doomed as a country if people like you are so easily brainwashed into believing the world as we know it is about to end. Please wake up for our children's sake!

No one here is claiming that the world is about to end. The world doesn't have to actually end for the consequences of anthropomorphic climate change being serious enough to be worth doing all we can collectively do to prevent or mitigate them.

Besides that, even if all the warnings and fears about global warming were entirely unfounded, the world as a whole would benefit from efforts and research to vastly improve energy efficiency and distribution, and developing renewable and sustainable and less polluting energy sources that don't depend on burning increasing amounts of the world's rapidly diminishing reserves of fossil fuels. Solar and wind power are already competitive with fossil fuels and are rapidly becoming more so, as well as providing tremendous potential for lucrative entrepreneurial opportunities and jobs creation. The discussion should be at least as much about that as about climate change. In fact, according to Amory Lovins and the Rocky Mountain Institute, that should, perhaps, really be the main point of the discussion!

[Gunnar]

Gunnar, if you walked to work and did not use the internet, the earth would be better.

I already walk or take public transportation to my most frequent destinations more than I drive, and there are a lot of things that can be done more efficiently with less adverse environmental impact through the internet than by other means.

Besides that, even if all the warnings and fears about global warming were entirely unfounded, the world as a whole would benefit from efforts and research to vastly improve energy efficiency and distribution, and developing renewable and sustainable and less polluting energy sources that don't depend on burning increasing amounts of the world's rapidly diminishing reserves of fossil fuels. Solar and wind power are already competitive with fossil fuels and are rapidly becoming more so, as well as providing tremendous potential for lucrative entrepreneurial opportunities and jobs creation. The discussion should be at least as much about that as about climate change. In fact, according to Amory Lovins and the Rocky Mountain Institute, that should, perhaps, really be the main point of the discussion!

[Gunnar]

RMI Reality Check: Appalachia Poised to Become Clean Energy Country

When it comes to the clean energy transition, many fear that coal-dependent regions like Appalachia will lose out or be left behind.

But a new analysis from RMI challenges that assumption, finding that Appalachia could be the region to see the biggest economic benefit from the deployment of wind and solar projects over the next decade.

For more than a century, the Appalachian Mountains stretching from Alabama to Pennsylvania have been America’s coal country. Yet global coal demand has dropped in the past decade, in part because of the fuel’s role in climate change, and coal production has fallen more than 65 percent in Appalachia, hurting the economy and creating a need for new opportunities.

Onshore wind and utility-scale solar projects can help fill that need. These projects are typically developed in rural areas with sufficient renewable resource potential and access to land—and both are plentiful in Appalachia. What’s more, ramping up renewables in the region is cost-competitive with the current trajectory of continued dependence on coal, according to a study by West Virginia University. It also offers several other notable advantages, including economic diversification and avoidance of adverse public health impacts.

That said, the transition will not be an easy one, and supporting policies that invest in worker retraining and community capacity-building are critical to ensuring that it works for everyone.

Appalachia could see a substantial rise in economic development generated from renewables by 2030, with wind and solar contributing nearly equally across the region. Ohio and Kentucky are the states primed to see the greatest gains, adding roughly $18 billion in revenues apiece over the lifetimes of wind and solar projects built this decade, according to our analysis.

In Kentucky, those revenues are driven primarily by solar, as the state holds the potential to grow its solar capacity by an order of magnitude this decade, in the process contributing $2.6 billion in annual wages to solar industry employees. That’s comparable to those of the accommodation and food services industry in the state. A similar story holds true for West Virginia, where the solar industry could launch in a big way in the coming years, delivering over $12 million in annual tax and land lease revenues to West Virginia communities.

While Appalachia stands to reap great benefits, other regions across the country have much to gain from wind and solar deployment as well.

As the states with the largest shares of current and planned wind and solar projects, California and Texas could see more than $65 billion in rural benefits from the renewables industry over the lifetime of solar and wind projects built between now and 2030. The potential in these states is so big, in fact, we made them their own regions.

Wyoming, which has one of the top average wind speeds and wind power densities in the country, could realize $5 billion in rural economic benefits and over 7,000 full time jobs by 2030—more than recent annual employment in oil and gas extraction in the state.

Montana is also poised for tremendous potential growth in the wind energy sector, increasing its installed wind capacity by 600 percent in the next nine years. Wind farms built in that period could yield over $4 billion in lifetime revenues and support roughly 6,000 full time jobs.

South Dakota ranks close to the top for economic benefits as a share of its rural population, thanks to growing wind capacity additions and a fledgling solar industry that could grow from 1 MW today to 6,400 MW by 2030. In this scenario solar would generate $306 million in annual revenue in 2030, on par with the state’s beef and veal export industry ($339 million).

Florida, with one of the highest solar capacity factors in the country, could add $15 billion and 55,000 full time jobs to its rural economy if the modeled 30 GW build-out of its solar sector comes to fruition.

Wind and solar projects are becoming a new form of cash crop for rural communities around the country. With support from our elected leaders, rural areas around the United States, will see more jobs, revenue, and other economic and health benefits as they embrace renewables.

I'm convinced that the main obstacle to achieving these goals is the determination of the fossil fuel industry donors to mostly conservative politicians to spread disinformation about climate issues and lobby for laws that would discourage or even outlaw transition to renewable, green technologies.

[Gunnar]

Spotlight: A Just Energy Transition

At RMI we believe that all communities deserve a resilient, prosperous, zero-carbon future. We are working alongside our partners to ensure a clean, equitable energy tomorrow for all.

Build Mixed-Income Housing in Wealthy Urban Neighborhoods

The United States is emerging from the acute health and economic crises wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic to a longstanding housing shortage that is only worsening. The compounding harms of this nationwide crisis range from cost burden and inadequate housing to displacement and homelessness. Estimates of the gross shortfall range from 3.8 million to as many as 6.8 million homes with an especially severe deficit of rental housing accessible to very low-income households.

California’s housing shortage has been so severe that a decade-long economic boom was accompanied by the exodus of nearly a million low-income Californians, often to higher emitting states. This culminated in an unprecedented net population loss for the state in 2020 as well as the loss of a Congressional seat.

The shortage is so deep that even many middle-income households are not able to find sufficiently affordable housing near their jobs, causing them to drive more. In 2017 transportation surpassed electricity to become the largest source of climate pollution in the United States. A majority of this pollution comes from people driving passenger cars and trucks. Most troublingly, increases in private car travel have historically outpaced vehicle efficiency improvements to drive increasing carbon emissions. In fact, efficiency improvements alone tend to induce more driving, along with highway expansion that has far outpaced population growth.

Therefore, we must not only move from conventional efficiency toward rapid vehicle electrification, we must also reduce vehicle miles traveled by investing in inclusive, complete, compact, transit-oriented communities. And to do this equitably, we must change our zoning laws to allow mixed-income housing in higher-income, urban or walkable neighborhoods.