Wednesday, February 07, 2007

"The most common words I hear spoken by any environmentalists anywhere are, 'We're fucked'."

That slight clatter in the background is the sound of deckchairs being rearranged:

1. Independent, Feb. 7th 2007:

EU bows to car lobby on pollution limits

If you hear a series of loud booms, don't panic:

2. BBC, Feb. 7th 2007:

Booming India expects 9.2% growth

There is plenty of room on the lifeboat for first-class passengers:

3. BBC, Feb. 6th 2007:

Climate change 'affecting' China

At least 300,000 people in north-west China are short of drinking water because of unseasonably warm weather, which officials link to climate change. Parts of Shaanxi province face drought after January saw as little as 10% of average rainfall, state media say.


Cocktails are now being served in the VIP lounge:

4. LA Times, Feb. 5th 2007:

To stabilize atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide — the primary contributor to global warming — CO2 emissions would have to drop 70% to 80%, said Richard Somerville, a theoretical meteorologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla. Such a reduction would bring emissions into equilibrium with the planet's ability to absorb carbon dioxide. The last time the planet was in balance was more than 150 years ago, before the widespread use of coal and steam engines.

What would it take to bring that kind of reduction?

"All truck, all trains, all airplanes, cars, motorcycles and boats in the United States — that's 7.3% of global emissions," said Gregg Marland, a fossil fuel pollution expert at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Closing all fossil-fuel-powered electricity plants worldwide and replacing them with windmills, solar panels and nuclear power plants would make a serious dent — a 39% reduction globally, Marland said. His calculation doesn't include all the fossil fuels that would have to be burned to build the greener facilities, though. [...]


I'll have a quadruple Chivas, please. Yes, on the rocks.


* The post heading is a recent quote from Derrick Jensen.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:53 AM

    i must agree with the title. in a few decades (or years, more probably) when the planet's population is 10-12 bio people, our collective farts will be enough to exacerbate the greenhouse effect.. seriously..

    i think the most radical action people on this planet must take is to vow not to procreate and keep to that vow.

    the more people living, the more energy spent, the more waste created, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous1:24 PM

    "our collective farts will be enough to exacerbate the greenhouse effect.. seriously.."

    Wouldn't surprise me - after all, there are already nearly 7 billion of us.

    I always felt that those methane-emitting cattle were being unfairly singled out. Anyone would think humanity was airtight.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous4:31 PM

    One problem is that we, the great consumers, should do nothing because the uncontrollably fecund will, in serving and emulating us, be the 'real problem'.

    What happened to making a principled stand, setting an example to the ignorants?

    ReplyDelete