Remember: We're long past the point where either/or solutions will save us. We need everything we can throw at the problem. We need to reduce demand AND build solar AND build wind, AND everything else we can do.
Pointing the finger at other people only ensures that we all cook together.
I don't think we're quite agreeing, though...
"When I started writing about the climate crisis in the 1980s I was in my 20s, I didn’t fully comprehend that there could be a force...so steeped in greed & power that it would sacrifice the earth & its inhabitants for its own narrow interests. But there is, it’s Big Oil." @billmckibben.bsky.social
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uggghhhhh. This is so common and it's enraging. Think of all the talent that we lose by extinguishing all the bright stars like you.
I'm so sorry that happened to you. I'm fucking pissed on your behalf!
How far along are you in your plans to build a similar scale wind farm?
Places with proposed wind developments do this same thing: they'll say solar is the better choice. It's hard to take this seriously.
Clean energy, but not here, not now, not like this. Meanwhile more fossil fuels are burned.
Nice to meet you too! And yes, exactly, we need both - and then some. That is my exact point. We have run out of time and that truly sucks. Now we need scale and speed.
IPCC: We have a rapidly closing window for large-scale action.
Aww ouch, that is a hard thing to realize. I'm sorry!
My tomato seedlings are 2" tall, though, so I'll be ok!
Ah nice, I bet that was good work.
Yeah, it's heartbreaking to watch us retreat to the Dark Ages, on purpose.
Infuriating, actually.
Help me understand what is different between what you said and the way I paraphrased it.
We've blown through 1.5 C and are rapidly on our way toward passing 2 C. If you had asked that question 10 years ago I would have said yes. But now it's too late. We need speed and scale. We need rooftops and large scale. Millions more will suffer with every tenth of a degree and every delay.
OK well that's good then.
So help me make sense of your assertion that clean energy will (or even could!) destroy all of nature, to the point that there's nothing left to save from climate change.
That argument makes the scale of the problems the opposite of what they really are.
thank you. I take comfort knowing that so many of us did not want this outcome.
Are you suggesting that a full buildout of clean energy will destroy all of nature? For real?
Are you suggesting that the damage caused by climate change is the same as the impacts of building solar farms?
Because that's... uh.... not even close to true.
You can't say you care about nature and then block a solar farm.
Especially with the supposed excuse that it's "places we know."
I'm sure you've heard by now that the places we all know are being ravaged by climate change. Blocking clean energy just creates more pollution and causes more suffering.
Certainly, but that's not how things rolled out in my experiences last year.
Not just political appointees. The race to meet the whims of Trump was widespread.
Fascinating. I was one of thousands of contractors who were laid off from NASA and this was drumming through my head the whole time. Why was NASA gutting its staff when the budget cuts were not actually a real thing? That never made sense to me, and I'm glad to see this report.
yes - one or the other, and I don't recall which.
We have an EV6 as well and the servicing has been free, except for the cabin filter which cost $60.
That reads like it was really fun to write. Kudos!
Me too, and it's a perfect illustration that their main purpose is to enrich corporations, at the expense of people.
America's right-wing in a single exchange. It's perfect.
Your essay hits home. I'm a ski instructor and I struggle with those same emotions. This winter was absolutely brutal, and it made me more and more mad as I worked on my article and watched the snow disappear under our skis while the industry just seemed to carry on as if this is all fine.
This is an excellent summary, very skimmable if you just want to get a sense of the highlights.
A key distinction of our current energy crisis: "This time the alternative is superior."
People - and governments - can walk away from being held hostage by fossil fuels. The freedom feels so good!
"Replacing oil imports for road transport with EVs could save importers over $600 billion a year – the single largest lever any country has to cut its import bill."
💯 absolutely yes.
They are committing crimes against humanity, gleefully.
The negative feedback came from the ski industry, so it's not the typical denial type pushback we're all used to.
But it frames the problem perfectly - we can see exactly where the work needs to be done!
I'm with kdr on this one. We need government solutions. But the gov't won't tackle this on their own. They need a lot of pressure. From citizens, from lobbies, from powerful advocacy groups, from everyone who wants a livable planet. We need to fight harder than the oil industry is fighting.