> there’s another Arab Spring (not necessarily in MENA)
Climate Change | UN Report: Code Red for humanity
- Thread starter Buster15
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saw this doing the rounds on /r/europe, allegedly the left image is a "hypothetical news weather cast from the year 2050" done by a news station to highlight the importance of climate action, the figures on the right are actual French forecasts for Friday
It's unfuriating really. Finally there is sufficient general agreement on the reality of climate change, but now there is just never is a good time, there's always something more urgent.
Interestingly (and similarly infuriatingly), there is a nitrogen pollution debate in the Netherlands right now that's shaping up in the exact same way. The EU sets standards for nitrogen deposits (for good reasons, including climate change), and the Netherlands far exceed those in large of areas of the country. So, nitrogen emissions need to be cut. Some years ago, the government tried to get around that by some 'clever' calculations that kinda hid the problem. This was challenged in court and dismissed as illegal. So, the government implemented some very incomplete measures, did some 'clever' calculating again, and figured they were done. Again, rejected in court. So now it's clear the only way to deal with the nitrogen problem is some real action, which will especially hit the agricultural sector. But they have a strong lobby and outsized influence in the Netherlands, and so they're fighting this in whichever way they can - including by implying that the measurement method is flawed (i.e., questioning the science). So in short: years of inaction/minimal action because of economic interests - happily shoving a serious problem into next generation's lap. It's really amazing to see how it's basically a repeat of the climate change debate (played out much quicker), and NO lessons have been learned.
...yes, but, the money!!!!!
on the failure of states to use Covid and the current war in Ukraine to push for sustainable targets.
6 people are the tip of the spear leading to the suffering and death of hundreds of millions for decades. they will never face their nuremberg.
US supreme court on a roll.
I’d add Trump and McConnell to that spear
Have to say that the shortsightedness of the UK government is astounding.
With the huge increase in gas prices, many people, including me have or are planning to replace their old gas boilers with the very latest high efficiency boilers (I did research Air Source Heat Pumps, but it would not have been a good proposition). That has to be a good thing wrt climate change as they are > 90% efficient compared with about 60%.
But. The VAT on these significantly more efficient boilers and radiators is still 20%.
Regarding Battery EVs, they have now completely withdrawal the government grants including those for the installation of the home charging kits.
The crippling gas and petrol/diesel prices should result in a springboard for moves away from fossil fuels or at least a move to fit significantly more efficient items reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And it should be the government duty to create the most favourable conditions.
Instead, they are promising a green agenda but delivering nothing.
Is the UK also using Brexit to take longer to fase out gas engines? (The EU reached a deal this week to do so by 2035: European Union countries reach deal on 2035 fossil fuel car ban | CBC News)
fecking bastards. A January 6th at the Supreme Court wouldn't go amiss at this point. Use your 2nd amendment rights Yankees.
Is it short sightedness though? They're just fecking bastards the lot of them. It was Cameron who stopped feed in tariffs for wind and solar, and I think he was also the one who near as dammit banned onshore wind. They still haven't unfecked that and only continue to make things worse. Burning wood instead of coal however still attracts subsidies, they just fecking hate us and the planet. All they think about is their backhanders and cocktail parties with the other extremists.
Trump on his own spearheads nothing really. He's a useful idiot or jester to attract the masses to allow satan spawn like McConnel to push their extremist agenda through.
You say that, but he did attempt a coup a year and a half ago. McConnell has been in power for years, this is Trump's party now.
Quite possibly the most damaging decision to the fabric of American government since Citizens United. For fifty years our society has operated on the basis of congress delegating authority to administrative agencies to regulate based on their own expertise - now that's being gutted, and congress simply cannot fill in the gaps (even if it wasn't completely dysfunctional). Every administrative regulation is on the chopping block now. I'm sure scotus will somehow find a way to uphold all of the DEA's drug war regulations though.
Absolutely. Their legacy.
This was the river that was on fire & the Cleveland Fire Department was called to put it out…
No. My understanding is that petrol and diesel cars can not be sold after 2030.
You are probably right.
It is not actually shortsightedness.
It is down to pretending to be green one minute and then doing something completely different the next.
Boris leads a government which tries to be populist and as a result, just like the idiot Cameron, behaves like a meatfly. Flitting from headline to headline trying to govern.
But actually creating chaos and then trying to manage the chaos they themselves created.
I hope the 6 in the 6-3 die quickly.
some good news...
Well, that's positive at least.
Even here in Canada, I can really see an increase in non-gas or hybrid cars btw. Just the number of Teslas (they're most obvious) in my area has gone up a lot just in the past few months. It's still a small portion of the overall number of cars, but at least it's something.
The move has most definitely started. So far this year in the UK, battery electric cars account for almost 25% of sales. And that line is almost going exponential. A 71% increase on last year.
Even though they are significantly more expensive than fossil fuel cars and now no government assistance at all. This number would have increased further but for the microchip supply problems.
Sounds like Canada is quite different to the US, where I understand that buyers are still wedded to V8 muscle cars in the main.
What about you my friend. Is that the way you are thinking?
I don't know how different it is in terms of car culture. I'm in a liberal suburb, I suppose it might be similar in a similar demographic in the US. I didn't want to end my post on a negative note, but yes, there is an unholy amount of SUVs on the road and lots of people with pick-up trucks that don't practically need them.
We've got a hybrid. I'm assuming next time will be an electric, but when we bought our car in 2018, this was the best we could do. (We have just the one car, and there were not enough charging stations outside cities for longer trips, and no non-SUV plug-ins with enough trunk space.)
Appreciate your message.
My current car is a Ford with the 1 litre ecoboost engine. Extremely efficient and yet surprisingly powerful.
The market here is increasingly dominated by SUVs, including the big very heavy ones
I aim to get an EV next time even though we do less than 4000 miles a year now.
I read that EVs, especially the big heavy types are producing lots more micro plastic pollution because of the tyres wear.
Just goes to show there are no easy answers to the plastic pollution we are increasingly responsible for.
Yeah, it's a mess that way. Cars are getting heavier all the time and that produces its own problems. A proper long-term solution is really to reduce urban car use as much as possible. Like, Amsterdam is de-carring (I'm making that a verb) more and more if its city centre, forcing people to use public transport and bikes more.
That's hard to achieve in North America though, as cities are just so enormously spaced out, and it's hard to add the density to a fully formed suburb. As a result, as much as I'd like to do more by bike in my area, it's often just undoable (even if adding proper biking infrastructure would help). Like, my job is on the other side of downtown, and that's a 30km bike ride. That's just not at all practical. (I'd love it to be, as we've just been ordered back to the office for a minimum of 8 days per month.)
SUVs are becoming a thing in Norway too, but we're already at a high level of non-fossil cars, so it has less of an impact. As far as I can tell, 64.5% of new cars sold in 2021 were fully electric, up from 54.3% in 2020. Another 20.8% were plug-in hybrids, and 6.6% hybrids. I believe the government's goal is still to only allow electric and hydrogen cars from 2025, but they may use the war in Ukraine and the inflation crisis as an excuse to extend it a bit. I'm not sure it really matters, though, since I can't imagine a lot of people will be buying fossil fuel cars in 2025.
I guess you could say this is a win, but a same time they are building coal power plants at a higher rate than any country. Of course the uptick in renewables is a plus, but there is also a huge uptick in fossil fuels. I don't doubt though that their long term game is renewables though like it is with most nations.
The key thing is they're the model for growing nations and if they do manage an accelerated transition towards renewables whilst maintaining energy stability then it's a positive beyond China. The technology and funding will flow from China.
Growth in energy demand is bad for the environment full stop but its a reality. All we can do is compensate for it and support nations moving towards a cleaner energy mix. Part of that sadly is building new coal plants to replace older more polluting coal plants.
That's amazing - and creates the critical mass that guarantees all the infrastructure is in place to be able to drive that electric car anywhere in Norway. If only Canada pushed on in a similar way, in no time there would be none of those discussion anymore about a lack of infrastructure in rural areas and the north.
With the temperatures were about to witness, why do people still deny it exists?
because it still snows in the winter, duh!
In the UK, there is an election by the government to select their new leader to replace Boris Johnson. And so far, 11 candidates have put their name forward. All pretty useless by the way.
And none of them are majoring on climate change.
Trans women are the real threat to humanity. And a number of the 11 are pledging to scrap the net zero targets too.
If I had to take a guess their argument is that climate change isn't man made but simply a force of nature.
I dont think anyone does anymore. Except trump and thats seems more like a feck you than a genuine position. Most have moved on to its too late anyway or people wouldn't give up yearly iphone upgrades and their 10 subscription tv bills in exchange for something worthless like being able to breathe.
I can assure you with complete confidence, people still do. I speak with them on a regular basis.
Yep. You just have to look at the replies to this tweet. So dumb they also didn't get the obvious joke.
Yep. They are everywhere.
the think-tanks/Murdoch/politicians might have moved onto the "well it's too late now anyway" phase, but there are millions of people still in the previous phase of "it's all bollocks".