Climate Change / Global Warming Discussion

[David_Cary]

How do you tax the rich when they own the government?
And they own the media which helps influence the voters.
It is a truly fundamental problem that is hard to reconcile.

 

[ElectricIAC]

How do you tax the rich when they own the government?
And they own the media which helps influence the voters.
It is a truly fundamental problem that is hard to reconcile.

Convince the poors that the rich are anyone doing even a little better than they are.

 

[nwdiver]

Convince the poors that the rich are anyone doing even a little better than they are.

Seems like it's sliiiightly more defined than that

Wealthiest 10% Responsible

 

[ElectricIAC]

Seems like it's sliiiightly more defined than that

I would hardly consider $173K to be rich by our standards in the USA, but okay..

 

[nwdiver]

View attachment 859836

I would hardly consider $173K to be rich by our standards in the USA, but okay..

Wealth ≠ income.

If you have a net worth >$800k and you're still using fools fuel... you really should pay higher taxes. MUCH higher.

 

[ElectricIAC]

Wealth ≠ income.

View attachment 859842

If you have a net worth >$800k and you're still using fools fuel... you really should pay higher taxes. MUCH higher.

And again, if you’re a homeowner in any relevant MSA, chances are your net worth isn’t that far from $850K.

 

[nwdiver]

And again, if you’re a homeowner in any relevant MSA, chances are your net worth isn’t that far from $850K.

And again, if you’re a homeowner in any relevant MSA, and your net worth isn't that far from $850k then you should have no problem kicking your pathetic addiction to fools fuel

Some people have the motivation to kick their addiction but not the resources. Others the resources but not the motivation. Taxes and rebates can solve both problems

 

[petit_bateau]

And again, if you’re a homeowner in any relevant MSA, chances are your net worth isn’t that far from $850K.

provided you have finished paying the mortgage off ........

 

[ElectricIAC]

provided you have finished paying the mortgage off ........

Or if your equity has risen significantly.

 

[Dave EV]

provided you have finished paying the mortgage off ........

Do you really own the home if you haven't paid the mortgage off?

 

[mspohr]

Trains, E-Bikes, & Blimps - Bill McKibben Envisions Slower, Cleaner Transportation - CleanTechnica

Trains, e-bikes, and blimps. Bill McKibben envisions a slower, low carbon world of transportation as our future.

cleantechnica.com

Years ago, a group of people in France founded a “slow food” movement, one that celebrated the joy of dining rather than pounding down a burger and fries and dashing back into life’s fray. Could we be ready for a “slow travel” movement? McKibben certainly thinks so. Not only would it be far more enjoyable than being crammed into a slender aluminum tube with wings, it would help us reconnect with the natural world — while there is still time left to enjoy it.

 

[ElectricIAC]

Trains, E-Bikes, & Blimps - Bill McKibben Envisions Slower, Cleaner Transportation - CleanTechnica

Trains, e-bikes, and blimps. Bill McKibben envisions a slower, low carbon world of transportation as our future.

cleantechnica.com

Years ago, a group of people in France founded a “slow food” movement, one that celebrated the joy of dining rather than pounding down a burger and fries and dashing back into life’s fray. Could we be ready for a “slow travel” movement? McKibben certainly thinks so. Not only would it be far more enjoyable than being crammed into a slender aluminum tube with wings, it would help us reconnect with the natural world — while there is still time left to enjoy it.

Interestingly enough, before we got our first Tesla, we used to fly everywhere when it came to business or pleasure.

Now we take a car ride when timeline can allow for it.

 

[mspohr]

Interestingly enough, before we got our first Tesla, we used to fly everywhere when it came to business or pleasure.

Now we take a car ride when timeline can allow for it.

Same here... and now that we are retired, we have lots of time to drive. This summer drove to Tetons/Yellowstone when would have flown in the past.
My Tesla is an extremely comfortable car for long road trips.
Also, have several electric bikes. One for trips into town for mail/groceries/hardware/etc. Another electric mountain bike for outdoors fun.

 

[mspohr]

Hope amid climate chaos: ‘We are in a race between Armageddon and awesome’

The shining light of climate hope is the exponential growth of ever-cheaper renewable energy, which now delivers 75% of all new power – coal has plummeted to just 4%. An important recent study found that a swift transition to clean energy would save trillions of dollars, even without accounting for the enormous damage continued fossil use would cause. Even climate deniers should be on board with that, says study author Prof Doyne Farmer at the University of Oxford. Electric vehicle sales are also rising exponentially. Sales in China doubled year-on-year in August, to more than 500,000. Both of these green technologies have passed tipping points in many places – they are now simply so good and cheap that a runaway takeover is inevitable.

The energy bills crisis in Europe caused by the war in Ukraine has emboldened fossil fuel interests to push for new oil and gas exploitation. But senior figures say the war will ultimately boost climate action, not block it. “The case for a global energy transition is more solid now than before the invasion,” says Christiana Figueres, formerly the UN’s top climate official. “Once we are on the other side of the current Russian blackmail, no one will want to be [held] hostage again.” Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre says: “The war is pushing significant speed-up of the installation of solar, offshore wind, hydrogen, and the rest of it.”

What needs to happen at COP27 is for finance facilities for loss and damage and for adaptation to be established,” says Siddiqa, a campaigner with Fridays For Future Pakistan. “It is central to the whole thing.”

 

[mspohr]

The Atlantic: The Climate Economy Is About to Explode.
The Climate Economy Is About to Explode

Late last month, analysts at the investment bank Credit Suisse published a research note about America’s new climate law that went nearly unnoticed. The Inflation Reduction Act, the bank argued, is even more important than has been recognized so far: The IRA will “will have a profound effect across industries in the next decade and beyond” and could ultimately shape the direction of the American economy, the bank said. The report shows how even after the bonanza of climate-bill coverage earlier this year, we’re still only beginning to understand how the law works and what it might mean for the economy.

The report made a few broad points in particular that are worth attending to: First, the IRA might spend twice as much as Congress thinks. Many of the IRA’s most important provisions, such as its incentives for electric vehicles and zero-carbon electricity, are “uncapped” tax credits. That means that as long as you meet their terms, the government will award them: There’s no budget or limit written into the law that restricts how much the government can spend. The widely cited figure for how much the IRA will spend to fight climate change—$374 billion—is in large part determined by the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of how much those tax credits will get used. But that estimate is wrong, the bank claims. In fact, so many people and businesses will use those tax credits that the IRA’s total spending is likely to be more than $800 billion, double what the CBO projects. And because federal spending tends to catalyze private investment, that could send total climate spending across the economy to roughly $1.7 trillion over the next 10 years. That’s significantly more money flowing into green-energy industries than the CBO projected, though it’s unclear if that additional money will lead to more carbon reductions than earlier analyses have projected.

Perhaps most strange, even if the United States slips into recession in the next year, the IRA will only become more important. Historically, economists and businesses have treated helping the environment as a product of prosperity—if the economy is good, then companies can afford to do the right thing. But the IRA’s programs and incentives will keep flowing no matter the macro environment, which makes betting on clean energy one of the most certain economic trends of the next few years. Clean energy is now the safe, smart, government-backed bet for conservative investors. It’s really a shocking reversal of the past 40 years. It is such a change that it hasn’t yet been metabolized by the world of people involved in the issue.

 

[mspohr]

Hurricane Ian ‘ends discussion’ on climate crisis, Biden says on Florida visit

"There’s a lot going on, and I think the one thing this has finally ended is a discussion about whether or not there’s climate change, and [that] we should do something about it.”

 

[mspohr]

Here’s a plan for green King Charles: sell the family silver and use the cash to save the planet | John Vidal

From now on, what the King says is less important than what he is seen to do. He now runs a multibillion-pound private corporation and has one of the world’s greatest personal fortunes. How our billionaire king spends his money and what he does with his vast properties and land holdings may fundamentally change the way Britain sees itself – and how the world regards us.

It is no wonder that Charles backs renewable energy. Aside from vast acres of wild lands suitable for onshore wind, the estate owns most of the British foreshore to a distance of 12 miles – perfect for selling leases for offshore wind, tidal and wave power.

Selling off the family silver is traditionally reserved for governments, but Charles could happily dispose of most of the many thousands of great diamonds, rubies and other jewels that have been handed personally to royalty over 200 years without anyone caring. The billions of pounds raised from such a sale could be used to establish academies of sustainable farming or permaculture in the Commonwealth countries from which most jewels were looted in colonial times and many of which are still struggling to feed themselves. Aside from shedding most of his relations, abandoning archaic British empire medals and generally living less lavishly, he could start hosting vegetarian banquets and end hunting on all royal lands. At which point, he could do the decent thing and abolish himself.

 

[DrGriz]

Here’s a plan for green King Charles: sell the family silver and use the cash to save the planet | John Vidal

From now on, what the King says is less important than what he is seen to do. He now runs a multibillion-pound private corporation and has one of the world’s greatest personal fortunes. How our billionaire king spends his money and what he does with his vast properties and land holdings may fundamentally change the way Britain sees itself – and how the world regards us.

It is no wonder that Charles backs renewable energy. Aside from vast acres of wild lands suitable for onshore wind, the estate owns most of the British foreshore to a distance of 12 miles – perfect for selling leases for offshore wind, tidal and wave power.

Selling off the family silver is traditionally reserved for governments, but Charles could happily dispose of most of the many thousands of great diamonds, rubies and other jewels that have been handed personally to royalty over 200 years without anyone caring. The billions of pounds raised from such a sale could be used to establish academies of sustainable farming or permaculture in the Commonwealth countries from which most jewels were looted in colonial times and many of which are still struggling to feed themselves. Aside from shedding most of his relations, abandoning archaic British empire medals and generally living less lavishly, he could start hosting vegetarian banquets and end hunting on all royal lands. At which point, he could do the decent thing and abolish himself.

That last sentence might be a step too far.

 

[mspohr]

That last sentence might be a step too far.

I think a lot of the articles proposals are beyond the imagination of Charles.
He could do some of these things but is probably severely constrained by politics, convention, etc.

 

[DrGriz]

I think a lot of the articles proposals are beyond the imagination of Charles.
He could do some of these things but is probably severely constrained by politics, convention, etc.

I think there's actually good reason to believe he will do some of them. Which would have a huge impact.