Category: Less of What We Don’t Need
-
US Plastics Industry Will Have More Emissions Than Coal by 2030
With dozens of new plastics manufacturing and recycling facilities in the works, the U.S. plastics industry will release more greenhouse gas emissions than coal-fired power plants by 2030, say the authors of a new report. Emissions from the plastics sector equaled that of 116 coal-fired power plants last year, according to the report out Thursday…
-
Climate goals will fail as long as cryptocurrency exists
The minimum energy usage attributable to Bitcoin activity, as of this week, is 43.8 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year, and its estimated actual energy demand is 176.83 TWh per year, according to Digiconomist. For comparison, that estimate is the equivalent of a bit more than 16 weeks of average energy usage in the entire Philippines (based…
-
From Popovers to Popunders: The Kind of Decarbonization That Can Succeed
So much carbon dioxide has now accumulated in the atmosphere that it’s no longer possible to prevent a dangerous rise in global temperatures through purely technological means. In other words, it’s too late to prevent catastrophic ecological damage and human suffering simply through building more renewable electric capacity and improving energy efficiency. Humanity can keep…
-
Don’t Expect Real Climate Solutions from COP26. It Functions for Corporations
The politicians’ third and more complex deception is in the technology-centered “decarbonization” measures they embrace in the name of “green growth.” These rely on tweaking, rather than transforming, the big technological systems through which most fossil fuels are consumed — tThe politicians’ third and more complex deception is in the technology-centered “decarbonization” ransport networks, electricity…
-
Response to Don Fitz
[This is the third part of an exchange between Robert Pollin and Don Fitz carried in Green Social Thought (GST) andZNet. The first portion consisted of two articles by Pollin which originally appeared in Truthout on 7/3/21 and 6/10/21. The second portion was a response by Don Fitz which appeared in GST and ZNet. The…
-
Against Overproduction
[This is the final part of an exchange between Robert Pollin and Don Fitz carried inGreen Social Thought (GST) andZNet. The first portion consisted of two articles by Pollin which originally appeared in Truthout on 7/3/21 and 6/10/21. The second portion was a response by Fitz to Pollin’s articles. The third portion was a rejoinder…
-
The Gritty Reality of Solar Power
Time is fast running out. The world’s affluent nations, with their abundant greenhouse emissions, have to finally drag themselves across the starting line and begin phasing out fossil fuels at the accelerated pace that the climate emergency demands. And if they can manage to do that, they clearly will need to quickly build up wind…
-
Two Interviews with Robert Pollin on the Climate Crisis and a Global Green New Deal
This is the first part of an exchange between Robert Pollin and Don Fitz for ZNet. The second portion will be a response by Don Fitz. The third portion will be a short rejoinder by Pollin to this article. The final portion will be a short closing statement by Fitz. Interviews conducted by C.J. Polychroniou…
-
Restless and Relentless Minds: Thinking as a “Species out of Context”
Today we face multiple, cascading ecological crises, including but not limited to rapid climate destabilization, accelerated species extinction and loss of biodiversity, chemical contamination of land and water, and soil erosion and degradation. These realities will require our species to down-power, either consciously through rational planning or as a result of larger forces beyond our…
-
“Net Zero,” Smoke, and Mirrors Warning message
With more than 135 nations, including the United States, now having set targets for achieving net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050 or so under the Paris Agreement, hope has once again been bubbling through the climate movement. But “net zero” is not zero, and these pledges are not as ambitious as they seem. According to…