Climate deniers are running out of excuses...
By Thom Hartmann A...
One-by-one, the excuses for failing to act on climate change are disappearing.
Earlier this month, China proved that it's possible to quickly and dramatically reduce carbon emissions. According to an analysis by Greenpeace, our planet's largest greenhouse gas emitter reduced coal use by about 8 percent in a single year.
That reduction is roughly equivalent to all of the carbon dioxide emitted by the United Kingdom over that same period. And, it proves that lawmakers who say that China's pollution makes our climate action irrelevant are really just looking for excuses.
Another one of the Right's favorite excuses is that we can't get renewable energy up and running fast enough to replace fossil fuels, but that claim is also falling apart.
Just this week, the International Renewable Energy Agency announced that the number of people employed in that industry jumped by 18 percent from the previous year. That means that 1.2 million people found jobs in the renewable energy industry last year alone.
With that type of growth, it's clear that green energy could power our world much sooner than the fossil fuel industry would like us to believe. All of the claims keeping us from making the switch to clean energy are nothing but myths, and Big Oil is quickly running out of excuses.
The fact is, the only real reason that the fossil fuel industry – and their lackeys in Congress – oppose renewable energy is because of the threat to their mountain of profit. Because that is the only thing that matters to the corporate elite.
We have the technology to make the switch, the green energy industry can grow fast enough to handle it, and the world is making progress way faster than we are. In order to solve the climate crisis – the most important issue that we've ever faced – we must keep smashing these myths and strengthening our understanding of science.
Comments
#2
Hectocubed, I appreciate you owning up to being a denier, rather than trying to make yourself seem undecided by calling yourself a skeptic.
Given that, I wouldn't expect it to hurt you to be called a denier, but your denial itself will hurt you. Just the rise in sea level will lead to mass migrations of coastal populations and a need for expensive rebuilding of port infrastructure. Then there's the shifting of arability, infestation and disease.
#3
It doesn't look like there's much, if any, of the lymphatic system near the mammary glands, so the bra theory of breast cancer that Thom mentioned is probably bunk.
#4
@Kilosqrd, Strawman. Thom never said that solar would be used by combustion engine vehicles. He never said solar would be used by aeroplanes. He never said that it would change in a few months.
But, he did state that China reduced its emissions by 8% in a surprisingly short timeframe
Kilosqrd, you misrepresented Thom's article and then you arbitarily dismiss the overwhelming burden of scientific evidence of climate change. But then it appears that you'd rather support a free market, whatever the costs, even though most of the costs will fall on younger and future generations.
#5
Yes big oil is here to stay for quite some time. Just cannot run 18 wheelers, ships, airplanes, etc on a battery. Not yet anyways. Coal however is another story. You can generate power with other sources, as is being demonstrated now. "Green" electricity is more expensive, but less polluting. As a society, how much are we willing to pay for our power? That is the question.
#6
One thing that was done recently, Mauiman2, is letting ships in port plug into the local electric grid, so they don't have to burn dirty while they're there. I think that was San Diego I heard about, but I'm sure the idea is spreading.
#7
Greed. My own definition of Greed has 2 parts. 1. More for me. 2. Nothing for anything else. Greed just does not have room for anyone else. I got some examples of Greed in action. The General Motors Electric Vehicle. The EV1. Some GM Corporate guy decided to end the GM EV1 project and then Part 2 of Greed kicked in. He decided that each EV1 built and leased ought to be called back to GM and crushed.
Corporate Global Climate Change guys are Greedy. 1. More than enough for me. 2. Nothing for humanity, nothing for living things, nothing for planet earth. The Corporate Guys are pretty goofy. My recommendation. No longer repeat the Big Lie: Humanity Causes Climate Change. Just watch some movies about crazy criminal characters. The Criminals say to children and to women as they kill them: You made me do this to you.
Humanity is not responsible for Global Climate Change / CO2. Please stop saying that Big Lie. Just imagine all the babies, toddlers, children, mothers, families and communities around the world as your image of Humanity. Humanity is not the cause of Global Climate Change / CO2. A few Corporations have caused Global Climate Change / CO2. Remember: Corporations are Corporations too. Stay Tuned.
#8
Hi Thom, I know you don't actually READ books or anything ever written here, and that as a result, your RESEARCH and RELEVANCE is a little bit behind the curve ( way behind ) as you sturggle with memory issues, your compulsion to write ANOTHER unnecessary book and to be all things to all people.......and endlessly repeating yourself. without the FACTS to effectively make your POINT.
Therefor, the following ( which I know you will ignore ) can solve these problems.
The burning answer : the solar revolution : a quest for sustainable power / Keith Barnham.
which was recently released in the U.S. can be of use, as well as.....
This changes everything : capitalism vs. the climate / Naomi Klein.
which has been available for some time.....these will bring you to the present in terms of the econconomic viability and WHO ( besides the KOCH brothers ) is blocking what could be an effective and fairly rapid transition to 100% renewables in most developed countries in less than 20 years with current technology. ( the author of the first book was involved in developing a 42% efficient solar cell.........explains E=hf, the equation that actually won Einstein the Nobel and the difference between energy and power.)
Read MORE, write LESS, TAKE NOTES and PREPARE!!!!! It time to move past kindergarten PROGRESSIVISM 101.
#9
Corporate climate change deniers (and their avatars in Congress) aren't merely dishonest, they truly ARE Satanically inspired (in a DEADLY sort of way)!
#10
Got that right, Christopher. Dangerous, evil buncha bastards. And if the TPP passes, they'll be even more in the driver's seat than they already are. This nightmare ain't over, not by a long shot.
#11
China is the biggest carbon emitter but we are the biggest carbon emitter per capita by far. China also is the biggest user of renewable energy. What Thom points out is that it will not change overnight but can change faster. Kilo seems to think that we should just drive off of the cliff. Kind of hard to be a denier in Texas when your home is floating down the river and it is not a houseboat. Ways that we can change:
We have about 60000 MW of wind power with another 20000 planned or under construction. That 60 re[laces 120 coal plants. Keep building.
Ships are being built to run on LNG which is much cleaner than the bunker C oil that they currently use.
Look where we have gone in 10 years with electric cars. Imagine the next 10 years. If NASCAR was electric we could sell electric cars in the South. That is a joke but it would help in research. Every electric car should be charged with renewable energy.
Solar panels are everywhere. Places like Arizona should be operating all air conditioners with solar panels. Every doctors office (example) only open from 9 to 5 should be solarized. Lots of business offices fit that mold. There are lots of applications for solar without night time storage involved. Now Tesla wants to have night time storage with batteries. This is an exciting concept to watch for the next 10 years.
I live near a train track that carries coal trains. Each train car carries 200000 pounds of coal. The trains are about 100 cars and 4 locomotives. 24 trains per day. Coal burns down to about 47% ash. All of that to a few coal plants. One newer large one and several older small ones. Each car on the return trip empty weighs 44000 pounds (they gross at 244000 pounds), A lot of energy just for the empty ones to return. Every windmill and solar panel will help to reduce this.
It is sad that there are people like Kilo that would rather drive off of the cliff rather than listen to science and innovate on ways to save energy and switch from large carbon emitters to renewables. But we have Congressment that bring snowballs into Congress.
#12
These greedy money people are destroying our planet. We need to stop them.
#13
Climate deniers are not as stupid as I first thought many years ago. Well, maybe some are. The wealthy deny global warming because it suits them. Off the record, they know better. You can't argue the point with them because they already know you're right. They just can't afford to admit to it, and so they don't. They don't worry about the future either because ordinary people will keep coming up with fixes which they can readily afford, but you can't.
#14
I read about all the flooding in Texas and how Texans are still gay-bashing, and denying climate change, and being religously arrogant, and I just have to do a 'Pat Robertson' response to it all:
"God has removed his protective hands from the people of Texas and now tries to wash away their hatred, cleanse their souls of their arrogance, and flood their ignorant minds with the truth of climate change. Let us pray for their salvation and may they see the truth before it is too late."
#15
patrick H.T. paine -- Thanks for the links. Naomi's title is a misleading. She wants capitalism to solve the climate problem. I think tax and rebate would solve global energy capture (AKA global warming) faster than the most optimistic can imagine.
To make tax and rebate happen we need movetoamend.org or Bernie.
#16
The funny thing, stecoop1, is that some of that flood has to be from all the rain we've had in Colorado--2 or 3 weeks straight where it rained every day, helping with our normally arid conditions. Seems to be a case of God using his weird pulley system to simultaneously open a door and close a window.
#17
Haha Kilosqrd, The inanity of your [non]argument is evidence that you have nothing of value to add to this discussion. You may just as well listed that data and claimed that the climate crisis is indeed a real threat. In fact, had you done that your list of polluters would have made more sense.
#18
Carbon tax!, carbon tax, carbon tax!!!
It has been proven to work, make it more expensive to polite and these carbon burning corporations will put more money into renewable energy. Also why has everyone stopped talking about hydrogen cars? Everyone is all about electric, which is awesome don't get me wrong, and Tesla is proving that electric cars can perform just as well as internal combustion, but it seems as though these carbon burning corporations just have a hard on to burn things, so burn hydrogen, then you can polute all you want, I don't think anyone will complain about to much clean drinking water dripping out of tail pipes as cars go down the highway.
Also don't knock thom for repeating over and over kindergarten progessivness 101, the majority of people out their are still at a kindergarten level when it comes to common sence. :-)
#19
karagirl -- Don't forget to mention the rebate part of the carbon tax.
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Thom Hartmann is a creative thinker and committed small-d democrat. He has dealt with a wide range of topics throughout his life, and this book provides an excellent cross section. The Thom Hartmann Reader will make people both angry and motivated to act."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Right through the worst of the Bush years and into the present, Thom Hartmann has been one of the very few voices constantly willing to tell the truth. Rank him up there with Jon Stewart, Bill Moyers, and Paul Krugman for having the sheer persistent courage of his convictions."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Thom Hartmann seeks out interesting subjects from such disparate outposts of curiosity that you have to wonder whether or not he uncovered them or they selected him."
C'mon Thom. Take a look around you. 250-300 million fossil fueled vehicles are on the road right now. Thousands of aircraft in the air flying hundreds of thousands people to thousands of destinations. Do you really believe this will stop, or even change in just a few months, or just a few years? Transportation manufacturers are building the machines for the future Thom, using internal combustion powerplants. We will be pumping oil and gas from the ground for many generations to come.
Call me a denier all you want. It doesn't hurt me at all. There is NO CLIMATE CRISIS.