25 July 2007

The end is nigh!

I am sure that the right wing and the climate change deniers, when and where they are not one and the same, are going to jump all over the study out of Rockefeller University in New York that is being touted as saying that renewable energy "is not green". What I see him as saying is that renewable energy is not practical as a replacement for 100% (or more) of today's energy consumption. I have been saying that all along about bio-fuels and it has clearly been true of hydro-electric sources for some time.

At the end of the day we are not going to tackle the problem with renewables alone and there is going to have to be sacrifice in both the North America and Europe as regards per capita energy consumption and lifestyle. I am sorry if that is inconvenient or unpalatable but I believe it to be the truth. It is also why I am extremely cynical about the planet's chances of get out of this without terrible, terrible difficulty. The level of understanding, concern and altruism required for action to be taken before it is too late simply does not, and I believe will not, exist. By the time the mass of westerners are willing to make these adjusts we will be well beyond the tipping point. Sorry but that's what I think. I wish someone could and would convince me otherwise!

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