Monday 27 April 2015

going main street

Thomas Friedmans story for the NY Times Sunday Magazine, The Power of Green, locked down the papers most e-mailed list for about two days. The enviro rag Grist blogged about the essay by the "Mighty Mustache of Understanding," and Deborah Williams, Alaskas own climate activist, e-mailed it around.
For anyone who hasnt read it yet, Friedman makes the argument that US should -- rather, must -- be a new world leader by driving the technological developments and other efforts needed to slow climate change.
He takes a global view. He argues that high world oil prices enable controlling, regressive governments and that the US effectively funded both sides of the war on terrorism by buying Saudi Arabias oil, then fighting the intolerant strand of Islam it supports. "How stupid is that?"
Tackling climate change is critical, he writes, and will be really hard (and politically unpopular), but ultimately will be as much an opportunity as a loss -- ". . . green is not about cutting back. Its about creating a new cornucopia of abundance for the next generation by inventing a whole new industry."
Friedman explains why people arent exactly motivated to help -- getting power from a less-polluting source doesnt better ones life like a new cell phone does -- and why the USs GDP figures are like Enrons profit figures -- because theyre based on false numbers that dont account for the greenhouse gases were creating.
He argues that real progress on climate change wont happen unless new, cleaner technologies can be economically competitive in China and India, and that those technologies wont develop fast enough unless theres a cost to carbon.
Friedman argues that green needs to be "Main Street" and is well on its way there.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California summed up the new climate around climate when he said to me recently: “If 98 doctors say my son is ill and needs medication and two say ‘No, he doesn’t, he is fine,’ I will go with the 98. It’s common sense — the same with global warming. We go with the majority, the large majority. ... The key thing now is that since we know this industrial age has created it, let’s get our act together and do everything we can to roll it back.”
Wise words from the Terminator.
Lest I sound like a completely uncritical reader, I did question at times whether Friedman overshot his knowledge base when he took on the world. He mentions ethanol as a potential climate-saver, for instance, which I wonder about. Isnt ethanol not that great?
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