Saturday, December 12, 2009

Copenhagen and Carbon Emissions

Today the blog is about the meeting going on right now in Copenhagen Denmark. Unless you have been in a coma for the past week you must have heard that world political, business, academics, lobbyists, and other want to be thought leaders are in Copenhagen trying to iron out a protocol for a greener future for the planet. Many in attendance are just plain hypocrites and fall into the Alfalfa Gore category of fame seekers. Actually they are like moths and are more likely flame seekers. If only they would get close to the fire and disappear in a puff of carbon dioxide we may well be better off.

China the world’s largest carbon emitter is there to protect its own interests as a “developing nation”. All sorts of real developing nations are represented by their honest and capable presidents who really care about the air their people breath. Of course Zimbabwe has to be on the world stage with their man Mugabe sprouting his “convenient untruths”. The entire event arranged by the Ignited Nations is such a sham but it is good for the news organizations so it is well covered. President Obama will go to Copenhagen next week for the closing of the conference and will promise to try to convince our senate to ratify the minus seventeen percent goal for reduced US green house gas emissions. China will commit to lowering the carbon intensity of their gross domestic product by half in 2020. Yeah China owns the USA and most of the rest of the world so if they simply add the rest of the global GDP into the calculation they have already achieved their goal.

Now that I have depressed you all and caused you all to question the sincerity of those attending the conference there is a silver lining to all the hoopla. The average citizen in the industrialized world knows we have to prevent the proliferation of “weapons of mass combustion”. We are all embarked on a new course of improved energy efficiency. Fewer massive homes that are distant from work and places of entertainment will be built. Certainly Hummers and Escalades will disappear from the planet as will thermodynamic fakes such as Al and Arnold. The greening of our thoughts and actions is not just a fad like a hula hoop but is a permanent long term sea changing event comparable to the cessation of smoking tobacco by the majority. Cheap oil and cheap water are gone and we the people will be more efficient in consuming these ever more costly resources.

For certain the politicians will return to their respective parliaments to pass laws to lower emissions by taxing carbon. The cable news networks will provide ample air time for the politicians to grandstand. All sorts of charlatans will start offering vehicles that run on fresh air, travel hundreds of miles on a single gallon of gasoline, or have zero pollution. The Green Machine offers the following advice “there is no fuel like an old fuel and fossil fuels are very old.” We will continue to rely primarily on fossil fuels well past 2020 and we should just use them more sparingly.

5 comments:

  1. Oh Lindsay, ja, we need to conserve, but when are we going to see a levelized playing field with massive reinvestments in, and subsidies for renewable energy technologies to retool/restructure the infrastructure--conservation will only take us so far, ja? But let's be real, this ain't gonna happen until CONG (coal oil nooklar natural gass) eeeps every last smidgen out of their investments. I want to have hope, but whether I continue to have this, will depend on what happens the end of this week in Copenhagen. We also need to overcome this dependency on a carbon-based lifestyle/addiction, which is impeding us from, quite frankly, moving to an RE technology future.

    So what about these attempts being made to place a price on carbon--either cap & trade, or taxation? And we know damn well how taxation bodes in this nation. So, unfortunately, because of our consumerism-bent culture, the markets will need to step in to create some incentives, ja? Incentives to tell people how to reduce their emissions via pricing schemas, so you and I can maintain the quality of life we are accustomed w/o having to compromise too much, if anything, because unfortunately it's a sordid, selfish, lame culture we live in. Unless this happens, altho I am not in agreement, I fear there will be no chance in getting any legislation passed in gov't in the US of Amerika.

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  2. Kim

    The feds and the morons in Sacramento do give away tons of your mulaah for renewable energy projects. The end of this week in Copenhagen will be like the start of the week. The developing nations will walk out and the "developed" nations will tax their citizens and Alfalfa will make bucks on both end of the candle. Alfalfa simply should sell my puke as a bio fuel as he has me puking just about every time I see his ugly face. Actually his Uncle Joe who is biding his time to make millions as an ex Veep is equally sickening so just try hold the contents of your stomach as these guys suck the money out of your pocket

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  3. Sure, the feds give away mulaah for RE projects, but not on the massive order we require. I mean, c'mon it's going to cost what $8-$9 bil to install that high-speed rail line between LA-SF Bay Area, and what that paltry $66bil is going to be distributed over how many years?

    So, I think S Korea, a nation of 48 mil has it closer to correct--they have earmarked $84bil for energy efficiency measures alone. There was a read on edie.net back on 6Jul09--news story ID 16657.

    I also understand that a great deal of these stimulus funds won't be dispersed until 2010/11 and capital is formed. I can testify. I have chatted with a number of small RE companies in Portland and around the country who are barely scraping by and trying HARD to keep their businesses up and running--folks are just too darn afraid to spend to have REs installed due to this persistent, tumultous financial climate. No wonder I can't get a job right now.

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