On the IT WILL TAKE MORE THAN LINT
At 3:19 PM, Lyle said…
Ed, let me express the foundation for my optimism on your two concerns.
1: A number of excellent ideas are brewing, being tested, and implemented. Congestion pricing is one of them, but there are many, many more such as local food systems, cradle to cradle design, green public revenue shifts (which includes congestion pricing), cutting inefficient subsidies, and improving civic participation with publicly financed elections, proportional representation, instant runoff voting, choice voting, citizen councils, and so on.
YOU ARE VERY RIGHT, THESE ARE GOOD IDEAS. ALL THESE AND MORE HAVE BEEN ON THE TABLE SINCE THE EARLY 90S WHEN WE FIRST FOCUSED ON THE NEED TO ACHIEVE A SUSTAINABLE TRAJECTORY FOR CIVILIZATION
In desperation, our politicians and business leaders will look for easy solutions and pick those that can best be implemented. Onward the slapdash evolution of our society goes, in constant fear of Fundamental Change, but constant struggle towards it.
THERE IN LIES THE PROBLEM. SO FAR WE GET ABUSER FEES, ADVICE TO GO SHOPPING IN THE FACE OF TERRORIST ATTACKS AND A FAILURE TO ENFORCE LAWS OR REBUILD INTELLIGENTLY AFTER NATURAL DISASTERS.
UNLESS THERE IS AN OVERARCHING CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK SUCH AS FUNCTIONAL HUMAN SETTLEMENT PATTERNS – OR SOME OTHER THAT YOU OR OTHERS ARTICULATE IN DETAIL – THE LEADERSHIP OF BUSINESS-AS-USUAL WILL CHERRY PICK THIS AND THAT.
THUS OUR CONCERN FOR AN AGENDA FOR FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE AND OUR CONCERN THAT THERE WILL NO RESOURCES LEFT TO ACHIEVE THAT CHANGE WHEN IT BECOME OBVIOUS THAT THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE.
AS I TELL MY OPTIMIST FRIEND JAMES A BACON: EVERY GOOD IDEA IS SEEN AS “SOLUTION” THAT GIVES BUSINESS-AS-USUAL AND EXCUSE TO DELAY FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE
2: We use a tiny percentage of the solar energy that reaches this planet.
VERY TRUE BUT READ WITH CARE OUR DISCUSSION OF THE “THICK / THIN” PROBLEM OF SOLAR (AND ALL “RENEWABLE” ENERGY SOURCES) IN OUR COLUMN “THE CONSERVATION IMPERATIVE” OF 19 JUNE 2007.
We use a tiny percentage of the potential wind energy.
THAT IS TRUE TOO AND THE SAME LIMITATIONS APPLY TO SOLAR, WIND AND EVERY “NATURAL / RENEWABLE” SOURCE VIS A VIS CREATING FUNCTIONAL HUMAN SETTLEMENTS FOR A TECHNOLOGY DEPENDENT URBAN SOCIETY.
NATURAL SOURCE STRATEGIES ARE GREAT. THEY ARE THE ONES THAT REA SHOULD HAVE DEVELOPED FOR NONURBAN SETTLEMENT PATTERNS INSTEAD OF STRINGING WIRES. THE NONURBAN POPULATION IS 5 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL.
INTERREGIONAL BIG GRIDS, INCLUDING NONURBAN DISTRIBUTION, WASTE MORE ENERGY IN GENERATION, TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION THAN THEY DELIVER TO END USERS.
We still have a hundred years or so of coal,
BUT DO WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO USE IN WAYS THAT DO NOT CAUSE MORE PROBLEMS? ARE YOU PLANNING TO GO TO BEIJING FOR THE OLYMPICS?
and several decades at least of oil.
NOT ONLY THAT BUT WE HAVE SYNTHETICS TO REPLACE OIL BUT AT WHAT COST? WHO WILL BE ABLE TO PAY FOR THESE “SOLUTIONS?” NOT ENOUGH WILL BE ABLE TO AFFORD THEM TO ELECT A STABLE GOVERNMENT.
Thin film solar promises to revolutionize that industry, and I fully expect other innovations in other areas.
I EXPECT YOU ARE RIGHT BUT AT WHAT COST AND WILL THESE NEW INNOVATIONS PROVIDE EQUIVALENT PROPERTIES TO THOSE PROVIDED BY THE NATURAL CAPITAL WE ARE BURNING UP? FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT WILL POWER LARGE, PRIVATE VEHICLES WHICH ARE IMPERATIVE TO ACHIEVE MOBILITY AND ACCESS? MORE ON THIS IN “THE PROBLEM WITH CARS.”
Most urgently, we have vast expanses of government subsidized waste to tap, should we require the juice.
BUT HOW DOES ONE TAP THAT WASTE WITH THE EXISTING GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE? HOW DO YOU CHASE AWAY ALL THOSE WHO ARE FEEDING AT THE TROUGH. WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE WHO ARE CHANTING: WHAT? ME WORRY?
If we decide to act within the next decade,
A DECADE IS THE RIGHT TIME FRAME BUT IN THAT PERIOD CITIZENS AND THEIR ORGANIZATIONS MUST BE TAKING DECISIVE ACTION, NOT JUST DECIDING TO DO “SOMETHING.”
AND THUS OUR TWO CONCERNS:
1) LACK OF AN OVERARCHING STRATEGY
2) TAKING INTELLIGENT ACTION BEFORE THERE ARE NO RESOURCES LEFT
we have fabulous resources to do so. Still, I do agree that urgency is appropriate.
Thank you for your good work and inspiration.
YOU ARE WELCOME, THAT IS OUR JOB
EMR
