Activists fighting to stop the exploitation of fossil energy should redirect their efforts to population reduction.
The fossil energy industry is going to shrink soon with or without the activists.
This is going to make it very difficult to feed 7 billion people.
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Climate scientists damage their own credibility by being in denial about the reality of our situation.
1) The planet cannot feed more than a billion people without fossil energy.
2) Those of us fortunate to have comfortable lives owe it to fossil energy.
3) Over 90% of all wealth derives from fossil energy.
4) Renewable energy does not have the qualities, scale, or return to replace fossil energy.
5) There is no easy fix to climate change.
6) There may be no fix to climate change because it is possible that self-reinforcing positive feedback loops have taken over.
7) Assuming we can still influence the outcome, austerity, conservation, and population reduction policies are the only things that might help.
8) Most climate scientists don’t set a good example in their personal lives.
Perhaps if climate scientists started setting a good example and speaking the truth they might have more credibility and impact.
Or maybe it wouldn’t make any difference.
It would be nice to have an honest fight.
Population reduction policies are the best action a government can take to reduce future hardship caused by human overshoot.
There is a good chance that the government of the richest and most powerful country in the world will be temporarily shutdown because about half of its leaders do not want to fund birth control.
Pundits commenting on the impasse only discuss the impact on economic growth.
No one discusses the only issue that matters.
I observe idiocy every day but the depth and breadth of this example is extra special.
On the other hand…
If we assume that we have less free will than we think and that most of our important behaviors are governed by the goals of our genes, then this fight to de-fund birth control makes sense.
Imagine 2 tribes sharing some depleting non-renewable resource critical to survival. At some point the tribes will have to fight over the remaining resources. Regardless of how many lives are lost in the process the tribe with the largest population will probably exit the fight with the most survivors. This is all our genes care about.
You can therefore argue that the behavior of the US leadership is consistent with what evolution predicts. Maybe they are not so stupid after all.
Maybe the laws of nature make our predicament unavoidable.
It is remarkable that there is not more discussion and concern about the fact that THE KEY resource that created and maintains our civilization will be mostly gone in 20 years.
You’d think there would be one enlightened country or political party somewhere in the world that has this at the top of their priority list, but there is not.
I find this mindbogglingly amazing.
This is why I am a fan of Varki’s denial theory.
On my death bed I will have a smile thinking about Varki and how I was one of only a handful of 7 billion that appreciated his theory.
I have for a long time felt that the future pain we will experience from our zero interest rate policy will far exceed any benefit we obtain today.
Here is an excellent article by the ecological economist Herman Daly making this case and why we should move to a full reserve monetary system.
What is Wrong with a Zero Interest Rate?
Have you heard any of the candidates in the Canadian federal election discussing this vital issue? Or climate change, or peak oil, or species extinction, or fisheries collapse, or dying trees, or the disease epidemic caused by refined carbohydrates?
It seems our leaders are happy to discuss any issue except the issues that actually matter. Idiots. All of them.
It’s time to stop voting based on left versus right which is essentially a question of how to divide up the pie that is destroying our planet. It’s time to vote for people with the IQ and wisdom to question the pie.
Alberta will be returning to its farming roots soon.
Those people trying to address climate change by blocking pipelines should shift their attention to a one child policy.
Oil Price Increase Will Not Come Fast Enough To Save Alberta
What did we learn from 2008? Nothing.
What did we do in response to the 2008 crisis? Even more of the same thing that caused the problem.
What happens next? 2008 on steroids.
“Debt ratios have reached extreme levels across all major regions of the global economy, leaving the financial system acutely vulnerable to monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve, the world’s top financial watchdog has warned.
The Swiss-based BIS said total debt ratios are now significantly higher than they were at the peak of the last credit cycle in 2007, just before the onset of global financial crisis.”
Our leaders are stupid but not that stupid.
At some point they will finally understand that economic growth is no longer possible and permanent economic contraction is guaranteed due to falling net energy.
At that point they might implement aggressive measures to reduce CO2 emissions. This will allow them to blame climate change for a shrinking economy and thus avoid the panic, hoarding, and wars associated with wide-spread understanding of overshoot and limits to growth.
On the other hand…
History strongly suggests there is no limit to human stupidity and we will blunder into full on collapse and wars over the remaining scarce resources.
We might bump along for another year or two but my guess is that Gail Tverberg is right and it’s time to tighten our seat belts.
I called my bank’s “expert” today to inquire about the new bail-in law. “Yes it was passed by the Canadian government. No I don’t know if there is a cap on how much of your savings can be confiscated in a banking collapse. But don’t worry, the Canadian system is very sound”.
Idiot.
Here is my election platform:
“We are in severe overshoot. Vote for me and I promise to make the world a less bad place for your children. We will implement policies to ensure needs are met but wants are not. There will be forced conservation and a ban on the export of non-renewable resources, higher interest rates to curtail debt and growth, a one child policy, cessation of immigration, and a capital tax on the rich to narrow the wealth gap.”
How many Canadians would vote for me? Probably one, me.
If people understood what is going on and overrode their inherited denial filter, how many would vote for me? Probably most.
un-Denial 