On this blog and before COP 27, I hypothesized the following: the world's public and private Powers-That-Be have no intention whatsoever of transitioning away from fossil fuels. COP 27, like all its predecessors, failed to endorse the phasing out of all fossil fuels. They did call for phasing out coal, but not oil and natural gas. Why?
The answer is simple: oil and gas almost are the perfect energy sources to enable the pursuit of infinite, ever-expanding, economic growth. Compared to renewables, they are - or more accurately, once were - more convenient, cheaper to obtain, packed with more punch, and the infrastructure for extraction & distribution already is pretty much developed. As to any problems created by fossil fuel use, no worries, new technology will solve them. At least, that's most likely how the linear thinking, neoliberal petroleum supporters view the situation.
Many other people see things through the lens of comprehensive thinking, nonlinearity, and complexity theory. Or, they simply apply common sense to the whole thing. Their conclusions are quite different, and they've been warning us about our current state for decades. Plus, the freight train which will hit us relatively soon involves much more than climate disruption.
Either we will significantly address the impending catastrophes of appalling air-water-soil pollution, soil loss, natural ecosystem destruction, overharvesting of forests and fish, the toxic forever-chemicals, the ubiquitous endocrine-disrupting chemicals now found in our food & water, nuclear wastes, polluting-destructive-perpetual war, biodiversity loss, the spread of disease, and more, or Mother Nature will. She already has started.
With some exceptions around the world (the USA is not one of them), it's beginning to appear that positive action by individual countries on the scale required is not going to happen. Therefore, it's up to smaller political entities - states/provinces, counties, local cities & towns - to adopt and implement sustainable policies ASAP. At least then, some areas will have a somewhat better chance of weathering the coming disasters. Which disasters? Things like severe food shortages, a lack of fresh, clean water, a lack of jobs, a sense of insecurity & perhaps despair, the feeling of living in an atomized society, a lack of Nature, etc. Much is being done in some areas, and much more can be done everywhere. Search out solutions; they're all over the internet. Tons of them. We're in ecological overshoot already, and whether everyone sees it or not, the human race is in dire straits. Even if only on a local or regional level, we can mitigate the Crisis to one degree or another.
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Not only my opinion. Be Well
