We need to look no further than China to see the effects of fulfilling the high energy demands of a concentrated population and vibrant industry with dirty fossil fuels. Recently the resultant pollution was so bad in Shanghai that flights had to be delayed due to poor visibility caused by the Smog. As if it is not scary enough that man-made weather, SMOG, is delaying flights and disrupting Chinese citizens, the Chinese state run media is trying to justify the positives to this disaster. In response to the disruption of the smog, state broadcaster CCTV published a list of reasons documenting the benefits of smog, which was translated by Time magazine. The rationalization a for the smog according to CCTV:
1. It unifies the Chinese people.
2. It makes China more equal.
3. It raises citizen awareness of the cost of China’s economic development.
4. It makes people funnier.
5. It makes people more knowledgeable of things like meteorology haze.
In another Chinese publication, The Global Times, which is published by the Communist Party's official People's Daily, noted that smog has a defensive benefit. “Smog may affect people’s health and daily lives," the newspaper wrote, "but on the battlefield, it can serve as a defensive advantage in military operations."
This is the latest example of how the world is putting it's proverbial "head in the sand" to the trend that we are marching head on into a global warming disaster which our children and grand children will be left to deal with if we do not act. The Chinese spin on the pollution problem is an extreme example, other actions are showing that the world is still more willing to risk the effects of global warming versus tackling the difficult issues on the way to a net carbon and environmentally neutral global energy supply. Recently Japan backed off its Kyoto protocol goals, due to the setbacks of its nuclear energy program. In Germany there is push back on its renewable program due to rising energy costs attributed to its incentives on renewable energy. In the US state of Arizona, a tax was voted in on PV solar system owners to support the antiquated central power grid.
No doubt all these actions are in reaction to the problems we are encountering to deliver the world clean energy that will preserve our planet. My concern is that on the whole, the reactions seem to be a move backwards rather than buckling down and figuring out how to push through these challenges on the path to a cleaner energy supply. For example: China could use the pollution to gain support for renewable programs and deeper energy conservation measures. Japan could have proposed a plan to get back on track to their goals. In the US, rather than fight to keep the central grid stable, the Utility companies could be working to embrace distributed power generation.
I watched a television interview with Buzz Aldrin where he explained: if everybody stood on the moon and looked back at the earth they would be forever changed to preserve the earth. He said, seeing the blue marble against the black back drop of empty space, one truly understands how unique our home, earth, is.
There is only one earth and our increasing energy needs are stressing the planets systems as reported in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate a Change, IPCC, report where they claim we are at an "unprecedented" level of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. Their report suggests we are over half way to the "irreversible" global warming tipping point which if no changes are made we could hit within 60 years. The path to an economically viable clean energy supply have its challenges, and we need to find solutions to these challenges and forge a path forward. We cannot "spin", legislate or side step the reality of global warming.
1. It unifies the Chinese people.
2. It makes China more equal.
3. It raises citizen awareness of the cost of China’s economic development.
4. It makes people funnier.
5. It makes people more knowledgeable of things like meteorology haze.
In another Chinese publication, The Global Times, which is published by the Communist Party's official People's Daily, noted that smog has a defensive benefit. “Smog may affect people’s health and daily lives," the newspaper wrote, "but on the battlefield, it can serve as a defensive advantage in military operations."
This is the latest example of how the world is putting it's proverbial "head in the sand" to the trend that we are marching head on into a global warming disaster which our children and grand children will be left to deal with if we do not act. The Chinese spin on the pollution problem is an extreme example, other actions are showing that the world is still more willing to risk the effects of global warming versus tackling the difficult issues on the way to a net carbon and environmentally neutral global energy supply. Recently Japan backed off its Kyoto protocol goals, due to the setbacks of its nuclear energy program. In Germany there is push back on its renewable program due to rising energy costs attributed to its incentives on renewable energy. In the US state of Arizona, a tax was voted in on PV solar system owners to support the antiquated central power grid.
No doubt all these actions are in reaction to the problems we are encountering to deliver the world clean energy that will preserve our planet. My concern is that on the whole, the reactions seem to be a move backwards rather than buckling down and figuring out how to push through these challenges on the path to a cleaner energy supply. For example: China could use the pollution to gain support for renewable programs and deeper energy conservation measures. Japan could have proposed a plan to get back on track to their goals. In the US, rather than fight to keep the central grid stable, the Utility companies could be working to embrace distributed power generation.
I watched a television interview with Buzz Aldrin where he explained: if everybody stood on the moon and looked back at the earth they would be forever changed to preserve the earth. He said, seeing the blue marble against the black back drop of empty space, one truly understands how unique our home, earth, is.
There is only one earth and our increasing energy needs are stressing the planets systems as reported in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate a Change, IPCC, report where they claim we are at an "unprecedented" level of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. Their report suggests we are over half way to the "irreversible" global warming tipping point which if no changes are made we could hit within 60 years. The path to an economically viable clean energy supply have its challenges, and we need to find solutions to these challenges and forge a path forward. We cannot "spin", legislate or side step the reality of global warming.