We cannot simply put a stop to either the present form of capitalism has taken and the economic reasons and politics that support it ( in America, for example, where the average person consumes twenty pounds of coal energy each day in a country with 25% of the planets recoverable coal resources which can last 250 years), nor can we overnight in any developing country (such as India) suddenly stop the supply of energy from coal which is still the easiest source of power. But we do require something: a total transformation in human consciousness, as well as the dirty politics and economics supporting the production of energy from coal which is filling the planets atmosphere with lethal quantities of carbon dioxide which is altering the chemistry of the Earths atmosphere. Climate Change is as yet a difficult to pinpoint factor to connect global climate events with this chemistry, like the old story of a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world causing a cyclone in another part of the world.But we are already aware of the connection, on the edges of science even perhaps. But we are aware. Only three percent of energy in a ton of coal is turned into electric light. Night photos of the dark side of the Earth show the planet lit up like an incandescent bulb.Billions of tons of coal are burnt yearly to light this. A billion tons annually in the USA it is estimated. It takes more energy to drive a palm tablet than a refrigerator, and the amount of coal taken to drive the worlds computers is incomprehensible if not unbelievable in the face of scientific research. Heat at ground atmosphere level is set to rise from between 1.5C to 5.8C within this century according to NASA in James Hansens 1988 testimony before the US Senate. Today, we are aware that it might be much, much more. The consequences of ice melting in the Arctic and the permafrost over methane beds in the Arctic disappearing releasing methane (which is several times worse than carbon dioxide) causing even more ice-melt will cause a cold water surge to the North Atlantic beds scientists fear may shut off the Gulf Stream (North Atlantic Conveyor) which would bring another Ice Age over northern Europe such as before 11,500 BP (Younger Dryas). Nobody knows everything about the future but ice core studies from Greenland and the Antarctic tell us of sudden climate shifts such as happened again in 8,500 BP. Cutting down on energy seems to be incompatible with development for todays levels of civilization. Solar energy resources require to be tapped and adequately subsidized by governments instead of coal, in particular Concentrated Solar Power or CSP which is solar heating via mirrors of water to form steam which retains energy longer. Natural gas is far cheaper than coal and less polluting but coal gives bigger profits to corporations and governments. The dangers inherent in nuclear power are such that after the near-meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in 1979 America has not built another nuclear plant for thirty years. So what are the alternatives between energy requirement and continued human survival on the planet ? Pretty thin, at best. Population is a problem but its an effect not a cause of capitalist industrialism. I have always advocated a new consciousness in dealing with irreconcilable or un-remediable problems. We need to become conscious of problems and their causes and effects. Unless there is an awareness or consciousness and an acceptance of facts (instead of excuses to get around and justify them) there can be no headway. There has to be a new consciousness about what we are facing through atmospheric pollution through burning coal specifically. We cannot go on justifying it on one pretext or another ostrich-fashion, with our heads in the sand. It will be a first step in dealing with the imminent threat of an un-liveable climate for our descendants and future generations of humans. Note: check references from bridgeattheedgeoftheworld from the book of the same name (2008) by James Gustave Speth Dean of the School of Environmental Studies, Yale University; and, Big Coal by Jeff Goodell, 2006
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 13:18:03 +0000
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