Climate Change / Global Warming Discussion

[WannabeOwner]

Campaigners Target Big Banks Over Destructive Fossil Fuel Projects

I was lucky enough to have a go at something like that the other day. We were asked to Tender for some work. As a general rule we don't tender; we provide a high quality service but it aint the cheapest, and Government / not-for-profit etc. companies tendering are going to pick on price, so we won't be in the running, so pointless us going through the tendering process. Anyway, this one was as a result of introduction by a good Client so we went along, albeit not intending to take the work.

They asked us about the moral position of our company on a number of, interesting, points in regards to what type of Clients we had. Some that we raised gave them some difficulty We are doing work for a Cannabis growing company, which is researching drugs that may help people with certain symptoms etc. They didn't know which side of their fence that fell on ...

So we asked them:

Who do you bank with? Barclays. Oh...oh.
Does you pension firm invest in Oil companies (we listed a few other undesirable fields ...) Oh...oh again ...

So we politely said we would have difficulty taking on their work in case another company asked us if we were doing work for other companies with dodgy banks and investment in Oil

For anyone not asking us to Tender we don't ask those questions .... although I take an extremely dim view of any client that does things such as banking with Barclays and I tell them so : "Your continued trading with XXX sends a clear message that you are comfortable with the fact that they have been repeated fined for misbehaviour"

 

[ohmman]

@roblab and @Merrill - PG&E will not cut you a check for a running credit that doesn't correspond to a surplus in generation. That is, if your credit is solely based on TOU, you can't get anything back. I run a $1000+ credit annually but don't get anything back from PG&E. I'm switching to our community choice program (Sonoma Clean Power) at my next true-up, as they will actually cut me a check for the generation rate.

 

[mspohr]

Is that relevant I wonder? Carbon Footprint Budget not the same as Total Energy Budget ... with technical progress over next 10 years, and replacement of Fossil Fuels with Renewables, I don't see why future generations shouldn't enjoy lifestyle the same as our generations have, and quite possibly better.

However, it does give me a new angle to be a crushing bore at dinner parties - "Your children will have 1/8th the Carbon Budget that you have had, so time to make yours negative, rather than zero, so you leave the planet with the same footprint you are restricting your children to"

Yes, CO2 budget is different than total energy budget. There is abundant renewable energy so everyone could enjoy a high standard of living.
The point of the article is that we can't do it by burning fossil fuels.

 

[Merrill]

@roblab and @Merrill - PG&E will not cut you a check for a running credit that doesn't correspond to a surplus in generation. That is, if your credit is solely based on TOU, you can't get anything back. I run a $1000+ credit annually but don't get anything back from PG&E. I'm switching to our community choice program (Sonoma Clean Power) at my next true-up, as they will actually cut me a check for the generation rate.

Yes, I’m with SCP and do get a check for the credit I accrue during the year and by doing this get a break on the per kW charges. You will be happy with SCP.

 

[WannabeOwner]

The point of the article is that we can't do it by burning fossil fuels.

I'm made the assumption, but didn't articulate it ..., that the next generation won't be burning Fossil Fuels The problem is the current generation ... too many of my rich Barsteward mates sit on their hands waiting for Government Subsidy before doing anything

A bit earlier today I was pondering that very thing ... has the time come when I should stop associating with any friends who are carrying on raping the planet with gay abandon?

I'll be interested to hear what Wifee has to say when I propose that ... apart from the fact that we might wind up with no friends at all!! perhaps I would do better to bang on my drum every time I see them ...

 

[Merrill]

I generally try not to talk about this issue with friends who do not understand, luckily most of my close friends think like I do so it is not a problem. I just hope the the future generations can survive on this planet.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I generally try not to talk about this issue with friends who do not understand

Might be different over here - we have excellent record on Renewable Generation, so "its in the news a lot", and I can't think of any equivalent to "Rolling coal" over here ... so my starting point is that my circle of friends are aware ... but doing mostly nothing.

Some have PV on roof, because subsidies (just ended) were very good for that, but that's about it. Not much spent on additional insulation, doing the school-run in a Range Rover (which is fine for driving across a ploughed field, but they are rich enough to also have an Eco Car for school run), no reduction in Oil burnt for home heating ... and so on.

About the only thing that they are doing is not replacing their cars with another Diesel ... because they figure that the 2nd hand value, in 5 years time, will be pants ... Diesel engine sales here have tanked, which is a good thing of course, except we are getting long-tail of unemployment as the Diesel engine factories close ... but those people are just buying Petrol/Gas instead.

No lifestyle changes for them, no "risk" either ...

 

[mspohr]

I'm made the assumption, but didn't articulate it ..., that the next generation won't be burning Fossil Fuels The problem is the current generation ... too many of my rich Barsteward mates sit on their hands waiting for Government Subsidy before doing anything

A bit earlier today I was pondering that very thing ... has the time come when I should stop associating with any friends who are carrying on raping the planet with gay abandon?

I'll be interested to hear what Wifee has to say when I propose that ... apart from the fact that we might wind up with no friends at all!! perhaps I would do better to bang on my drum every time I see them ...

This is all I could find:
Barsteward:
a)A polite method of saying bastard
b) a person who acts beverages from behind a bar with a smug manner

 

[ohmman]

 

[WannabeOwner]

a)A polite method of saying bastard

OK, can't use that any more, I had no idea it was "polite"

 

[mspohr]

A rapid shift to renewables, electric cars would save the climate — and up to $160 trillion
A rapid shift to renewables, electric cars would save the climate — and up to $160 trillion
"Every dollar spent on energy transition would pay off up to seven times."
Imagine a world where 85% of all electricity comes from renewable sources, there are over one billion electric vehicles on the road, and we are on track to preserve a livable climate for our children and future generations.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reported this week that such a future is not merely possible by 2050, but thanks to plummeting prices in key clean energy technologies, the cost of saving the climate has dropped dramatically.

 

[cpa]

a)A polite method of saying bastard

A bastard is a type of file, n'est-ce pas?

 

[ggies07]

A rapid shift to renewables, electric cars would save the climate — and up to $160 trillion
A rapid shift to renewables, electric cars would save the climate — and up to $160 trillion
"Every dollar spent on energy transition would pay off up to seven times."
Imagine a world where 85% of all electricity comes from renewable sources, there are over one billion electric vehicles on the road, and we are on track to preserve a livable climate for our children and future generations.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reported this week that such a future is not merely possible by 2050, but thanks to plummeting prices in key clean energy technologies, the cost of saving the climate has dropped dramatically.

View attachment 395858

What do you, or anyone else, think about this part:

However, emissions will still need to be reduced further, and bioenergy will play a role in sectors that are hard to electrify, such as shipping, aviation and certain industrial processes

I'm not sure these studies look hard enough into the decline of battery cost and increase in energy density. Maxwell's new DBE tech that has a path to 500 Wh/kg gets us above the threshold that Elon seems to think for planes. So maybe we don't have to worry about using biomass.....

 

[mspohr]

Two New Books Dramatically Capture the Climate Change Crisis

 

[mspohr]

Extinction Rebellion calls on protesters to block London streets
Extinction Rebellion calls on protesters to block London streets

“The ‘social contract’ has been broken, and it is therefore not only our right, but our moral duty to bypass the government’s inaction and flagrant dereliction of duty, and to rebel to defend life itself.”

 

[mspohr]

'Shut the country down': British climate group Extinction Rebellion heads to US
'Shut the country down': British climate group Extinction Rebellion heads to US

Some activists hope the arrival of Extinction Rebellion will be a watershed moment for the US environmental movement, shifting it from what they see as a tepid response to the cavalcade of disasters threatening the livability of the planet. Extinction Rebellion is aimed at spurring a muscular, punkish outpouring of civil disobedience, snarling cities and frogmarching politicians towards meaningful action.

 

[mspohr]

A new Bretton Woods conference for the environment?

World leaders ignore David Attenborough at their peril
World leaders ignore David Attenborough at their peril | Larry Eliott

History provides a lesson of what ought to happen. Seventy five years ago this summer a gathering at a hotel in New Hampshire led to the creation of the IMF and the World Bank, and helped shape the global economy for decades to come. The Bretton Woods conference essentially took the principles of the New Deal – full employment, shared prosperity, government intervention – and internationalised them. The summits at Yalta and Potsdam established the framework for postwar international politics, Bretton Woods did the same for economics.

 

[mspohr]

Only rebellion will prevent an ecological apocalypse
Only rebellion will prevent an ecological apocalypse | George Monbiot

The political class, as anyone who has followed its progress over the past three years can surely now see, is chaotic, unwilling and, in isolation, strategically incapable of addressing even short-term crises, let alone a vast existential predicament. Yet a widespread and wilful naivety prevails: the belief that voting is the only political action required to change a system. Unless it is accompanied by the concentrated power of protest – articulating precise demands and creating space in which new political factions can grow – voting, while essential, remains a blunt and feeble instrument.

 

[mspohr]

... and this is why we need a full scale rebellion against the politicians and corporations who are killing the planet.

Opinion | Canada’s Perverse Climate Change Policy: Gas Up

Canada’s Perverse Climate Change Policy: Gas Up
Pushing toward the worst scenario despite better options for the future of the environment.

 

[mspohr]

Elizabeth Warren
My plan for public lands

It is wrong to prioritize corporate profits over the health and safety of our local communities. That’s why on my first day as president, I will sign an executive order that says no more drilling — a total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases, including for drilling offshore and on public lands. I’d also reinstate the methane pollution rule to limit existing oil and gas projects from releasing harmful gases that poison our air, and reinstitute the clean water rule to protect our lakes, rivers, and streams, and the drinking water they provide.