[Cross-posted at The Left Coaster.]
Facts, truth, empirical realism, logic, rationality, un-biased observation methods, these are the cherished mental crown jewels of the liberal reality-based community, and I attempt to employ them as rigorously as Ezra Klein does when examining the prospects for success in eliminating global warming. Ruthless rationality and objectivism are not weak excuses for failure here, however, and objectivity aside publishing alleged impossibility is another mistake.
Climate change is a policy goal where failure isn’t an option. Should we fail Miami and half of Florida are just gone, underwater, every sea city to be barricaded in dikes like the Netherlands. No snow, the great American desert swallowing the plains. All of our political structures unwittingly set up on a stable food chain soon to be in chaos, politics and peoples naturally to follow.
Humans don’t run on gasoline, we run on the biology the Earth provides and shields us for. Knowing that we’re ruining it and then proclaiming failure in ability to fix it is of course the perfect prescription for total failure, it is a shame reality-based logic doesn’t shield a psyche from rank immature irresponsibility. Those with the keys to deep pocket publishing better grow up fast and realize proclaiming doom upon such critical human issues is a power they should use much, much more carefully.
The challenges listed by Klein are very daunting, yes, but in no way is that an excuse for not trying a start in what we know we can do: completely convert domestic transportation to electric renewable along with everything in housing. In that evolution other solutions will be earnestly searched for on Klein’s list and of course variables may change, success suddenly might not seem so dim.
The internal combustion engine is a piece of junk mistake. When it was conceived and built we were clueless about the harmful effects of exhaust pollution, just because there is no instant harm does not mean it’s a screaming stupid mistake we should drop like plutonium in our hands. As a society we have to see that and adjust, not hard for domestic transportation.
Every single home should have solar panels and a windmill, all the appliances and systems running on electricity. Huge wind farms at sea and land will buttress the grid, while solar power plants bloom everywhere.
Every automobile in those garages will be electric, instead of going to the gas station one plugs in with a clean grid every night, oh my god the pain of it all.
No smog, no spark plugs, no oil changes, no carbon monoxide, no transmission fluid, no radiators, no carbon dioxide, no differential gears, the horror of the depravation of it all should be scary to policy-makers, indeed.
Trucking is almost completely eliminated with light and heavy electric rail. Flight becomes a relatively slow cruise in electric blimps, most choosing bullet trains.
A lot of employment turmoil in the scenario, yes, but Jesus Christ are you telling me job loss is a concern to DC? When the freak has employment ever mattered to DC in the last 10 years? Somehow we will make it through, and there is vast employment opportunity in the electric conversion process.
Technically nothing stops us from doing all of this right now, today, everything technically is in our hands this very moment to start. For the earth and future generations it is totally unacceptable to sit there and proclaim failure when we have everything for a great start.
Americans would love the job, how freaking sick we all are of blood and wars and terror and TSA and bombing and explosions and fear and warnings and dread, my god is this the human condition we set our brains and souls to for the future?
I’ll take real hope, growth and change over that for our Earth, thank your very much, and so will the country with leadership willing to try.
Even as we read this truth spreads more and more, we can make a great start to fixing climate change while putting our people to work in a fun vital goal. Oh yes, so very easy to do.
The United States spends $120 billion freaking dollars annually just for the Afghanistan war, a hugely vast treasure spent just so some idiot politician can tell us to be afraid some more. When real leadership steps up to convert our transportation to electrons we’ll gleefully find out how real Americans can truly fix a problem without proclaiming weak doom.