During 20 years as a soldier and 30 as a diplomat I had a chance to see first-hand the impact of climate change on poor societies. As the years have flown by, things have, in my humble opinion, only gotten worse.
The result of my observations is that I’ve become a committed environmentalist, as green as they come—but with a difference. I am also a practical person who pushes for things that are achievable and don’t believe in focusing so intently on solving one problem that I ignore the other problems that might be created by that single-mindedness, or the fact that the way I want to do something might just not be practical or possible.
Moving away from fossil fuels and to green, clean renewable energy is a case in point.
There is, I believe, no argument that if we are to prevent the global temperature from reaching the tipping point from which there is no turning back we must eventually stop burning fossil fuels. The problem is that no one can predict with any accuracy what that tipping point is or when we might reach it. Because of that, the fossil fuel industry and its supporters (including the climate change deniers) want to charge ahead and continue using fossil fuels at our current rate, or even higher.
The arguments are that to do anything else risks economic calamity. If we just turn the switch off on fossil fuels without having affordable, reliable renewables to replace them, they’re right. The problem is that they’ve done nothing to make that possible, and in some cases have actually done things to make it more difficult.
The environmentalists, on the other hand, are pushing for cutting off fossil fuels and switching to clean energy sources such as solar and hydro power. A good idea but for the fact that these are currently very expensive systems that are beyond the means of many poorer countries.
Furthermore, a lot of the inputs and technology needed to build large scale power generating facilities are monopolized by China, creating a significant vulnerability for installation because of the current tense political climate.
China currently controls 90 percent of the rare earth market, the minerals and metals needed for wind turbines and electric vehicles. In 2019, for instance, the U.S. had 12 percent of the global rare earth supply, but the ores it mined had to be shipped to China to be upgraded into compounds and products that were then shipped back to the U.S., and the single mine from which they were mined is partially owned by a Chinese company.
The U.S. depends on China for 80 percent of its rare earth requirements, compared to the 21 percent of imported Middle East oil which in 2001 was the highest.
So, in order to move more to renewables in the U.S., we would have to import even more rare earth minerals from China—problematic given current relations and the risk that China might curtail imports as part of the current ‘trade war,’ and, worse, because China has lax environmental regulations, increased mining of these minerals poisons water, ruins farmland, and makes people sick, which is the very thing environmentalists want to avoid.
Bottom line here: an immediate transformation from fossil fuels to renewables is just not possible.
So, both sides of the issue need to sit down and map out strategies to make the change in an expeditious, feasible way, and commit to doing what’s necessary to get to where we need to be.
It might mean some hardships for a period of time. We might have to drive less, use manual fans instead of air conditioners, and pay a bit more for things. Constant economic growth and wealth generation at the expense of the environment needs to be checked. What good will it do to make the top one percent wealthier if none of us can breath the air or because the temperature and air quality is so bad we can no longer go outside without wearing protective gear?
I’m all for being green, but let’s be practical at the same time, and maybe, just maybe, our grandchildren will inherit an earth they can live on. – NWI
