re: #215 brownbagj

So…

Where do we start? How does the US lead on this? I will be honest, in my opinion it is not cap and trade.

To me, the ONLY way to make change happen is to somehow prove that change is in “greed’s” best interest. Doing the “right” thing or the “moral” thing will not get the masses involved - nor especially the huge corporations or countries (like China or the US).

The change must somehow be economically “good” for those who will be the driving force behind the change from fossil fuels to alternatives. Otherwise, science be damned, change won’t happen. We have to understand human nature to solve this problem. Human nature is usually about acquiring wealth, power etc. If we cannot somehow show that moving from fossil fuels accomplish this and satisfies that human nature, there will never be the kind of change we hope for.

Well it turns out that there are numerous solutions that reall could avert all this.

Step one is deploying smart grids, nuclear power, wind power, solar power and the new high energy density batteries.

We have the technology to produce almost all of our power emission free from these techniques.

This has the added benefit of creating millions of American jobs and paying for itself with all of the money that would otherwise have been sending to hateful regimes. It improves security and is all in all a win across all sectors save the fossil fuel industry. While I might be capable of feeling sad for American oil workers, and coal workers I would feel happy that they could get any number of the millions of other jobs created. I would feel no remorse over lost Saudi income.

The US is still the largest polluter. Fixing us first and revitalizing our economy buys the world time and allows us to trade green tech and use carrots and sticks with other nations like China and India. It is fixable. We have the technology to do it and the process is very sound both economically and militarily - unless you are politician or corporation or union that depends on fossil fuels.