The answers vary greatly:

How do "net zero" and "carbon offsetting"" work?  Are they effective relative to industrial operations?  That depends on who is answering.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62TubVzpiOw&t=1s

To achieve net zero, it often appears that too many companies are relying almost completely on carbon offsetting, with little-to-no emissions reduction.  Such a scenario means those companies can keep polluting for decades.  The question arises:  with the goal of more and more production (which is usually the case in economies pursuing infinite growth), can the offsets keep pace with the ever-increasing amounts of pollution?  No one knows, but ecologically speaking, there's a high degree of probability that the answer is NO.

Other questions:

Relative to natural carbon offsetting (e.g., planting and/or not harvesting trees), what is "Green colonialism"?

Have the proposed machines which will suck CO2 out of the atmosphere been tested at scale?  Will they run on renewable energy?

Net zero and carbon offsetting can be good things, but not if they're used as substitutes for emission reductions.  Reducing the amount of pollutants comes first, then if necessary, offsetting.  Plus, some sort of standards and oversight need to be developed.

Problems with carbon offsetting are presented in great detail here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61SWIYwCaSE&list=WL&index=71  (a must-see clip)

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Good Side of Nixon, the Scourge of Neoliberalism, & Why Climate Change is so Political

 All in less than six minutes---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8MOJAMbzKs&list=WL&index=68

Believe it or not, Richard Nixon was good for our environment.  After him, though, things started going downhill.  That's especially true with Reagan's brand of neoliberalism.  From then up to present-day, eco-regulations have been diluted or scrapped outright, while politicians continue to favor the fossil fuel industry, factory farming, and Big Biz in general.  Once in awhile, they throw a bone to the health of our habitat.

Largely through Edward Bernays style propaganda, environmental issues have become politicized to the Nth degree.  Too many voters have been indoctrinated to believe that environmental laws and regulations are "socialism", rather than protection for our health and the health of our common habitat.  Surely they don't believe various industries would - on their own initiative - never pollute our air, water, and land, eh?  Surely those voters don't believe emitting 36 billion tons of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere per year (worldwide) is good for our habitat, eh?  If they don't believe those things, then why do they keep voting for politicians who apparently do believe such?  Here's a big reason why:  propaganda from Mega Biz and the politicians in their back pockets.

So, step one in shifting to a sustainable existence on Earth:  stop drinking the Propaganda Kool-Aid supplied by The Establishment.  Those who are serving it up are ecologically ignorant beyond the pale.  They are technocrats with little-to-no knowledge of Nature, and apparently zero knowledge of how our existence depends upon the proper functioning of natural ecosystems.

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Not only my opinion.  Take Care

Wildfires, Forests, Ecology, & Funding

 With climate disruption and hotter temperatures making forests drier, this tool of fire prevention is more in demand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gnplJ2MFIE

It isn't that foresters are unaware of this method.  The problem is this:  at the macro-level, the funding for it is inadequate.

It appears that our politicians would rather spend billions on re-tooling and expanding our nuclear weapons arsenal, something which is completely unnecessary for our defense.  Even some military and ex-military officers have said so.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Suggestions for helping to mitigate the socio-eco-econ-ethical Crisis of the Ages

 In the spheres of---

1.  Regenerative Agriculture...

Support and work with The Land Institute.  Here's a letter/email being sent by supporters to legislators in the USA  (modified for something similar to perennial grain, the letter campaign could be done in other countries as well)---

As you consider the appropriations bill to fund the USDA for fiscal year 2024, I want to request that you: appropriate 7 million dollars to the USDA for Kernza research.

The cultivation of Kernza® perennial grain for human-edible grain, livestock forage, and conservation plantings offers the potential to create new income streams for American farmers, diversify cropping systems, sequester carbon, and support healthy ecosystems in rural communities. Kernza is the first commercially viable perennial grain crop in the world. American researchers, millers, bakers, brewers, food companies, and farmers are paving the path for this ecologically-friendly cropping system to become a major food and forage crop. There is a strong and urgent need to support ongoing work now to foster this growing community of stakeholders.

With an appropriation of 7 million dollars to the USDA in fiscal year 2024 for Kernza research, you will directly support government, academic, industry, farmer, business, and non-profit partners who are invested in seeing increases in yield and acres planted for this perennial grain, growth in our nutritional information for producers, and a holistic understanding of the ecosystem service benefits that Kernza can provide.

2.  Fashion...

Boycott so-called "Fast Fashion".  Here's an excerpt from my still-in-progress second book (on sustainability)---

Examples of Activities/Practices/Institutions Lacking Sustainability

The So-Called “Fast Fashion” Industry

This worker and ecology unfriendly industry makes poor quality clothes, produces them at an extremely rapid pace, and sells them at super cheap prices. It appeals primarily to young people (usually between ages 18 and 24), and marketing takes place to a large degree on social media. Buyers don’t expect the clothes to last much longer than about a month or two, or being worn perhaps ten times. Then they wind up in a landfill...tons of them. Buyers don’t mind the short lifespan because they’re pressured on social media to constantly wear something new with a different design.

In general, workers at Fast Fashion factories are treated much like cattle, and are expected to work long hours, sometimes twelve hours per day. This happens in China, where the industry first took root, and in several other Asian countries. Reports by documentary film makers indicate that finished products from these places sometimes are contaminated with lead-based pigments. On social media, buyers are told to wash the clothes before wearing them. Apparently they believe such action totally eliminates the risk from toxic lead. It does not. In addition to long hours, workers also endure low wages, unsafe conditions, and sometimes physical assaults and sexual abuse. The industry is an egregious disaster.

A company by the name of Shein (pronounced she-in), which was founded in China in 2008 under the name ZZKKO by a U.S.-born Chinese American, is now the top dog in the industry. It’s a $100 billion company. All from junk clothes.

The entire Fast Fashion industry should be boycotted/shunned. It’s an insult to civilized society, its factory workers, and Mother Earth. I hope everyone chooses to boycott it.

3.  Other junk products:  get on board with this movement...

https://steadystate.org/ending-planned-obsolescence-a-nonpartisan-movement-for-steady-staters-to-support/

"Comfort junk" is much like "comfort food".  Junk often looks good and seems satisfying, but such does not necessarily mean that it's good for you.  For one thing, it doesn't last.  You have to replace it about five to ten times more often than you normally would if it were durable.  And yet, we keep buying it.  Thus, too much waste keeps being dumped into the ecosphere.  We're already way over the amount Nature can assimilate, and it just keeps getting worse.

Here are two more things everyone can do to help our journey to sustainability. Whenever possible, BOYCOTT ALL junk.  If that involves a change in lifestyle, so be it. Our biophysical, natural support system cannot take ever-increasing amounts of waste without serious consequences to us and all life. SUPPORT laws and regulations (which are starting to spring forth) that combat planned obsolescence.  See the online article at the link above.  This is a nonpartisan issue through and through, so personal Party politics should not restrain you.

We are in the Crisis of the Ages. I propose the following hypothesis: the Crisis (in general) is manifesting itself as a philosophical battle between Modern-Day Naturalists and Mega Corporate Technocrats. It’s monumental, and it affects every single one of us. The needed solutions to our problems are known. We must choose to implement them, but the ongoing battle seems to be preventing implementation at the required scale.

4.  Economics, ecology, & in general:  join (or at least follow) one or more of these organizations...

Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

MAHB - Stanford University

 [ Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere]

https://www.icanw.org/ [International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize winner]

The Land Institute: Natural Systems Agriculture

https://www.arborday.org/

They all are doing significant work for the implementation of sustainability on planet Earth.

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Not only my opinion.  Take Care

Mother Nature has been sending the world a message re getting back to "normal"

 Unfortunately, it appears too many of us aren't understanding it.

Here's the message---

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"Your 'normal' is gone, and it won't be back for decades, or perhaps ever.  Why?  Because too many Powers-That-Be and Main Street people have ignored ecological principles for much too long.  They have failed to understand the importance of natural ecosystems, and the fact that natural Laws apply to humans.  Plus, too many continue to believe the ongoing pursuit of ever-increasing, perpetual economic and population growth will not further damage the biophysical basis of your existence.

"Too many seem to think the current extreme weather events on Earth are merely flukes, and soon will fade back to 'normal'.  Sorry, that's a false belief.  Unless you take significant action immediately, things only will get worse.  Such is not only in regard to weather, but also in regard to disease, soil, fresh water availability, the food supply, and clean air.  Wake up; you're in a crisis of unprecedented proportions.  Support those who are working hard to solve it; shun/boycott those who are not.

To make matters worse, you're still going to war with each other during the Eco-Crisis of the Ages.  I guess you figure:  the air is already so overloaded with greenhouse gases, more of that won't matter much at all.  Plus, apparently you believe that war won't affect the global cooperation necessary to address your ongoing, existential, and ecological threat.  That's the height of ignorance."

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As a concerned human, I'll add the following---

For a few decades, I've been amazed at how voters continue to elect to crucial offices mostly those candidates (regardless of political Party) who essentially are illiterate when it comes to ecology and the decades-long Eco-Crisis.  I imagine there are many reasons for such a scenario, but surely the last three years or so have given the vast majority of people pause to reconsider.

Democrats and Republicans have had their shot, and they've failed.  The crisis we're in is, in large part, due to their policies.  Mega Biz also is largely responsible.  So are voters and consumers of junk.  Eco-overshoot reigns supreme.  If my grandkids are to have a decent future, everything must change.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Robert Reich: Why the CONSTITUTION prevents Trump from running for high office in 2024, and much more

 This might be arguable, but it makes perfect sense to me; and for any new readers here, I'm not a Republican or a Democrat.  I must admit, though, I believe Trump is not only incompetent for high office, but dangerous as well.  In my opinion, he's the worst President we've had in my lifetime, and I'm eighty years old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ffe7MYSo8

Of course, we must keep in mind that about half the time our elected officials in the Fed Gov't ignore the Constitution, and do whatever is expedient in various situations.  If you don't think so, consider the following.  A few Laws passed by Congress clearly violate the Fourth Amendment.  FISA and the FISA Court violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.  The PATRIOT Act violates the Fourth Amendment.  In addition, the NSA - created by President Harry Truman, but not revealed to the Public until 1975 - absolutely violates the Fourth Amendment.  Many legal scholars agree with all the above.  So does the ACLU.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBbELqqSyek

How can this be in the "Land of the Free"?  How are these violations permitted by We the People?  I think it's due to poor education, Establishment propaganda, and distractions via the Rat Race and "bread & circuses".  We the People have lost our vigilance because we're under-educated, over-propagandized, and too busy to notice the erosion of our freedom.  AND/OR - we've become apathetic because we don't believe anything can be done about the decades-long coup by the Corporatocracy.

Surely it's not that last item above.  People are waking up.  Worldviews are changing.  Peaceful change is underway in many areas.  Not much is coming from the Top down, so communities are making changes from the grassroots up.  Those changes are in agriculture, in employment, in consumption, in politics, in resilience, in ethics, and in lifestyles.  Because of all that, Oligarchs/Plutocrats seem to be a little more worried lately.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbbgfnpJN9w

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Biden & Russia, JFK & USSR, and World Peace

This clip presents a portion of the JFK "Peace for All Time" speech, June 10, 1963.  Then there's commentary by the award-winning publisher of The Nation magazine, Katrina vanden Heuvel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNOQLkp0E5w

Included in the commentary is a brief comparison to the view of Peace held by today's national politicians.  Quite a difference, and not very flattering to Biden, et al.

JFK's Peace speech has been hailed all across the political spectrum as one of the greatest talks ever given by a U.S. President.  One thing is sure:  it demonstrates the almost complete lack of statesmanship in most of today's politicians.  The difference between JFK and them is stunning.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well