There is no time left on the clock for free market solutions to the global warming problem, like capping and trading credits for or taxing carbon dioxide emissions equivalents. That was what we should have been doing since Jimmy Carter was President, before Ronald Reagan removed the solar panels from the White House and declared a Holy War on the environment.
Then Nature fought back with a fury fueled by millions of megatons of pent up rage.
Then Nature fought back with a fury fueled by millions of megatons of pent up rage.
Thanks to 30 years of Reaganomics, we are now at a climate inflection point where draconian measures are called for, including:
(1) Use eminent domain to pay fair market value to keep the remaining fossil fuel reserves in the ground in a perpetual Carbon Trust.
(2) To recapture the carbon dioxide over-emitted to date, plant fast-growing trees on marginal lands that are watered with treated human wastewater and fed with treated human sludge.
Both projects will be paid for with long-term Planet-Saver Bonds issued by the World Bank, with interest paid on the bonds from 10% of the profits from the sustainability-compatible commercial activities on the acquired lands from the lease-back agreements.
It will cost trillions of dollars, but it will prevent hundreds of trillions of dollars in damages avoided and civilization saved over the next 100 years from sea level rise, ocean acidfication, and the increasing magnitudes, durations, and frequencies of extreme weather events that wipe out crops, spread pestilence and disease, cause mass migrations of people and wildlife, and exacerbate famine, starvation, debilitation and death.
Otherwise, the Atlantis myth is increasingly our reality.
12 comments:
Miami needs this, too! A Miami sea level rise bond issue. Also, an impact fee on new development. With the money, we could buy back all the land that is supposed to be used for new casinos in Park West/Overtiwn, Port of Mismi, old Herald site, Watson/Virginia Key/Miami Beach islands to be replanted with trees. Or, we could just party on in the gambling halls till the last call. It's all good. Except the pestilence and extreme deadly weather. Oh well. That's some other generations problem.
I laugh so hard whenever I see someone write about climate change.
Nutty environmentalists used to claim that there was global warming. However there was no evidence of global warming and there were those embarrassing snowstorms whenever a global warming conference was held.
That's when the knucklehead environmentalists changed their cause from global warming to climate change. That way, any change in the weather (hotter or colder) and any natural disaster could be used as evidence of their imaginary cause.
Because weather has been constantly changing since the beginning of time, the climate change crowd believes every piece of weather news proves they are on the right track. The rest of us just chuckle at their silliness.
Obviously anon science teacher you didn't read the truth out link at the bottom. Go ahead. Try it again. If you can read.
For science teacher my ass, the extremes we are experience at both ends -- heat and cold -- are exactly what is predicted by climate change science. Have you ever used your a/c so much as this "winter"?
Or seen so much rain?
To Science Teacher,
What if you are wrong? What are the consequences? Should we bet our planets entire future on the "expert" opinion of a science teacher or on reports written by real scientists studying the issue in-depth? Your opinion is just that, an opinion and not scientific fact.
I'd chuckle at the stupidity of those so willing to gamble with our collective future, but I find nothing funny about it.
I've come to the conclusion that in a period of declining real growth--like for the rest of our lives--politicians are unlikely to do anything that raises the costs of our energy. So, I don't expect any action from them.
HOWEVER, there are a number of soil scientists who think the job can be done--far cheaper and much faster--by changing agriculture. These things are worth doing on their own, the reduction of CO2 is just a bonus. Some also posit that "global weirding" (extremes in weather) are not related so much to CO2 levels as they are to disruptions in the water cycle which cause the man made phenomena of sea rise, desertification, floods, and droughts. The book, Cows Save the Planet, has a nice overview of the things we can do; all of which make farms substantially more profitable (nice incentive there). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16255159-cows-save-the-planet?from_search=true
The United States emits the most per-capita and accounts for 28.5% of all carbon in the atmosphere. The cleanup obligation is ours!
One argument for artificial capture devices in cities is to clean local air. Trees in cities are found to be more absorbent.
Some portion of the CO2 solution utilizes this technology, quoting from Lackner's wikipedia page. "Leaves are significant absorbers of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but planting enough of trees to absorb the current overabundance of carbon dioxide in the world would leave no fertile land left for other uses." Most absorbent trees. http://sustainability.stackexchange.com/questions/786/which-tree-consumes-most-carbon-dioxide-and-poisonous-gases
Other CO2 capture technologies: Microalgae lamps http://grist.org/list/this-lamp-absorbs-more-co2-than-a-tree/
If the most 'at risk' location on earth does not lead in the CO2 fight, instead pretending it does not exist, is there any hope for a solution? http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2012-07-06/top-20-cities-with-billions-at-risk-from-climate-change.html#slide21
Some how we need to figure out how to divert the current course of the HMS Titanic-Dade.
Great GOP legacy-destroying the atmosphere beyond recognition and in places beyond habitability.
Five years ago this month, Gore predicted that the "entire North Polar ice cap will be gone in five years."
But five years later, the North and South Poles are still capped in ice.
Arctic Sea ice is within a standard deviation of the "normal" line, and global sea ice is above normal.
The only thing that has melted is the credibility of global warming alarmists.
Will someone please explain to me what the people who lived during the ice age did to cause climate change in that era? Doesn't the earth normally go through climate cycles?
To a:
The people during the ice age did nothing to cause global warming. The earth naturally goes through climate changes.
It's also useful to know that Florida has been underwater for most of the earth's existence. Florida is rife with limestone which was created by piled up coral, shellfish, and fish skeletons. Florida was more than double in size just 20 thousand years ago. It shrank dramatically because of rising water levels.
"Reaganomics" caused global warming?
Only one "person" I know could believe that.
Bonzo is that you??????
My favorite take on saving the planet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB0aFPXr4n4
You lost me at "Thanks to 30 years of Reaganomics." LOL! You need to be on the whacko fringe to believe Obama has been practicing Reaganomics. It certainly doesn't add credibility to your cause.
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