Did you know we’ve almost solved climate change?
“Get ready for a US building spree not seen in generations. The United States is on the brink of its most consequential transformation since the New Deal,” declares Mother Jones Magazine.
“For the first time in history, the full financial weight of the United States federal government is aligned behind an epic transition to clean energy. A trio of energy, infrastructure, and science laws passed by the last Congress will deploy more than half a trillion dollars of public funding over the next decade to wean us off fossil fuels and make greener alternatives cheap and ubiquitous.”
OMG, it’s epic. Yay!
But, oh no, wait! “Across America, clean energy plants are being banned faster than they're being built,” reports USA TODAY.
“A nationwide analysis by USA TODAY shows local governments are banning green energy faster than they’re building it.”
"At least 15% of counties in the U.S. have effectively halted new utility-scale wind, solar, or both, USA TODAY found. These limits come through outright bans, moratoriums, construction impediments and other conditions that make green energy difficult to build.”
Holy moly, it’s not epic at all. It’s colossally bad!
And with two articles, the reality of the U.S fight against climate change is laid bare. There’s a lot of random and disorganized stuff going on. No one is leading. No one’s in charge, and there’s no plan.
If this is the best the U.S. can do, climate change has already won, and all that’s left is waiting around for natural disaster after disaster to pick us all off.
But there may be hope if someone somewhere gets real about creating a plan. Noble Owl in Rhode Island is trying:
“Your fate and mine will be decided in the next six years. Supposedly, if the world cuts its CO2 emissions in half by 2030 and hits zero by 2050, human civilization will be able to hobble on," observes Noble Owl.
“That’s ‘supposedly’ because the climate disasters hitting us now will be worse when global warming reaches 1.5 degrees Celsius. At the moment, the world has warmed only 1 degree Celsius."
"Hoping we can survive, Noble Owl is working on a way to meet those emissions goals. We believe that the switch to clean energy needs to be attractive and profitable to get it done as quickly as possible—AND that we need an actual plan.”
Here’s their argument, and here’s their idea for a plan.
If the U.S. won’t wage war on climate change, individuals will have to step in and do their best. Thankfully, some people are okay with fighting long odds, and really, what choice is there if you’re already under fire?