Rapid transition to clean energy and electric cars could not only save the planet, but could save the global economy $160 trillion USD by 2050. Part of this is because falling battery costs will soon make EVs as cheap as new gas-powered cars at point of purchase (not just over time). It is now cheaper to build new solar plants or wind farms than to run existing coal plants—and renewables are closing in on natural gas. So the economics of transition are lining up with the environmental necessity. Further, every dollar invested in renewables or “deep electrification” pays $7 in profits (and health savings, etc.). Such a rapid transition would create 11 million new jobs globally, but there would have to be help for the jobs lost in the old energy sectors of coal, oil, and natural gas.
Greening buildings, investing in mass transportation, making cities bike friendly, add extra dimensions to the transition. “Meat” grown in labs could be a major answer to the methane problem of corporate farming/ranching—as well ending starvation and animal cruelty.
A final step in the puzzle is to see how much carbon we can actually remove from the air. One answer might be to create carbon sinks with massive reforestation, but this could have its own drawbacks in terms of the amount of water and land needed that would be diverted from human consumption. Of course, such reforestation might also have added dividends such as increasing biodiversity and water production. Engineering attempts to remove carbon also show some promise. One hopes similar plans could be made for removing methane.
The window of opportunity is narrow, but our hope for stabilizing the planet is real. However, much depends on ending the Trump presidency and getting a progressive (green committed) Democratic POTUS with a Democratic Congress (and the end of the filibuster). We simply cannot afford another 6 years of a Trump presidency. We already have to clean up for the damage done so far. Notice, for instance, how much of Sen. Warren’s plans for public land protection and ending drilling, restoring the methane rule, etc. is simply reversing Trump rules. That’s not the whole of her plan, of course, using public lands for solar and wind generation is another feature, but it shows that we won’t be starting from where Obama left us, but from further in the whole.
We can save the planet, end hunger and create millions of jobs around the world at the same time—but we have no time to waste doing so.