-Barry A. Mitschke’s: Valley Views
January, 2023
Almost 20 years have passed since I wrote “Climate Change I” (p2003.05.01 NWP) for the local newspaper. You can read this again in my book Qu’Appelle Valley Views Volume 1: Perspectives on Life, Living and Lifestyles (2022), pages 77-81. It is time to write “Climate Change II,” albeit using the title of a new landmark book. But first, let me raise some other ideas!
Did Suncor and Exxon (and other members of Big Oil) disregard warnings of climate change going back to the 1960s and lead a “conspiracy of doubt”? Richard Martin Stern’s excellent science fiction (maybe faction) story called Power (1976) reveals a clash between energy sources. Coal mining versus a pilot atomic breeder reactor in New Mexico. Dr. James Hansen (NASA scientist) before the USA Senate in 1988 “… argued ‘with 99% confidence’ that humankind was already altering the atmosphere through its rising emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs)” (quoted by Dembicki, p.67 --- see below). Al Gore’s eloquent 416-page, lusciously-illustrated-indexed-landmark book Our Choice. A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis (2009) covers 18 chapters in six sections: The Crisis; Our Sources of Energy; Living Systems; How We Use Energy; The Obstacles We Need to Overcome; and, Going Far Quickly. (One needs to read Chapter 16, “Political Obstacles,” for sure! As a retired politician, Gore reveals the world of political inaction and why it happens in the USA. How about the political will in Canada?)
Let us fast forward to 2022 in Saskatchewan. For some time, there has been considerable talk knowing that we mine and burn lignite coal for about 50% of our base energy needs versus the possibility of getting Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMNRs) in the future (by 2030?) --- to replace the coal mining and the miners. (Note that “greenwashing” has left out the N-word, “Nuclear,” so the government and industry use the acronym SMRs!) Unless we can develop mass storage for wind and solar power, and more homes use geothermal (or?), what are the alternatives? Stay posted; we live in interesting times!
Again, this past year, we were surrounded by events (increasing in intensity, frequency, and duration) caused by the world’s climate change crisis: COVID-19 continues; Hurricane Fiona through the Maritimes; other hurricanes, tornadoes, and typhoons; wildfires in the Canadian West and Europe; extreme rainfall dumps and flooding in BC; loss of habitat, especially forests and wetlands; heat domes; extreme winter weather; etc. What if this past summer’s severe drought with grasshopper pests in some parts of SW Saskatchewan expanded to the full extent of “Palliser’s Triangle”? for 7-10 years as in the “Dirty 30s”? as in Syria (all the refugees since 2010)? ... or as in California for seven years (water crisis; almond crops destroyed)? Agriculture in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba would be a disaster! (Do we all suffer from psychic numbing?)
Bill Gates is one of the world’s smartest and richest human beings. His 2021 book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need, is another must-read for everyone. Especially for Climate Change deniers and politicians! The back cover synopsis says this:
“To stop global warming and avoid the worst effects of climate change, humans need to stop adding greenhouse gases [GHGs] to the atmosphere. This sounds difficult, because it will be. The world has never done anything quite like this. Every country will need to change its ways, because virtually every activity of modern life … involves releasing greenhouse gases. If nothing else changes, the world will keep producing greenhouse gases, climate change will keep getting worse, and the impact on humans will in all likelihood be catastrophic. But things can change. We already have some of the tools we need --- and as for those we don’t have, everything I’ve learned about climate and technology makes me optimistic that we can invent them, deploy them, and if we act fast enough, avoid a climate catastrophe. This book is about what it will take and why I think we can do it.”
After Gates’ Introduction “51 Billion to Zero”, the first three chapters are: “Why Zero?; This Will Be Hard; and, Five Questions to Ask in Every Climate Conversation”. More specifically, on page 55, he estimated GHG emissions by the things we do. Our five major activities: Making things (cement, steel, plastic, etc.) 31%; Plugging in (electricity) 27%; Growing things (plants, animals) 19%; Getting around (vehicles, planes, cargo ships) 16%; and Keeping warm and cool (heating, cooling, refrigeration) 7%. (Note: not everyone will agree on these categories/chapters of the “GHG pie” or the percentages, but it will still add up to 100% GHGs.)
In a recent article (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56042029), Bill Gates said that solving COVID is easy compared with climate change. Humanity adds about fifty-one billion (Giga) tonnes of GHGs to the atmosphere each year, and this must drop to net zero --- absorbing GHGs equivalent to those released! HOW? Things like: planting trees, decarbonizing electricity with wind and solar energy (helps 30%), demanding the government do the right thing (regulations, legislation), and as consumers insisting companies help. But how do we decarbonize 70% of the world’s economy dealing with steel, cement, transport systems, fertilizer production, etc.? Governments must intervene to invest in research and development, send price/market signals to the private sector, and create green products and stimulus packages for biofuels, electric vehicles and fuels, meat substitutes, heat pumps, etc. Innovative new technologies will be needed, and we will have to pay the “Green Premiums,” until everything can be scaled up to reach net zero for all humanity. This will take a constant 30-year push to 2050!
On page 200 of his book, Gates lists and then describes in subsequent detail 19 technological breakthroughs needed: advanced biofuels, carbon capture (both direct air capture and point capture), coolants that don’t contain F-gases, drought- and flood-tolerant food crops, electrofuels, geothermal energy, grid-scale electricity storage that can last a full season, hydrogen produced without emitting carbon, next-generation nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, plant-and cell-based meat and dairy, pumped hydro, thermal storage, underground electricity transmission, zero-carbon alternatives to palm oil, zero-carbon cement, zero-carbon fertilizer, zero-carbon plastics, and zero-carbon steel. (Some of these, we may have never thought of before!) Note: he created a good Index to learn more about these ideas quickly!
Chapters 9-12 cover: “Adapting to a Warmer World; Why Government Policies Matter; A Plan for Getting to Zero; and, What Each of Us Can Do.” The Afterword is “Climate Change and COVID-19”. The 257-page illustrated book has notes, also.
Bill Gates has a website: Gates Notes (The Insider Edition). In his October 18, 2022 memo, after consulting hundreds of worldwide experts (not the ones in the local coffee shop), he has written: “Path to Zero. The state of the energy transition.” He will update this memo yearly! Excellent! Also, he has invested billions into the “Gates Foundation” (as have others, like Warren Buffet) and into “Breakthrough Energy Ventures” to help solve the climate crisis. Google them for more information.
In addition to using the Internet to Google climate change topics (and checking first that they are credible), there are many other well-researched and credible sources that people can access via libraries or bookshops. I recommend the following: Internet sites (DeSmogBlog (Climate Disinformation Database; Koch Network Database); David Suzuki (Science Matters); Ecojustice; the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); the Paris Agreement, builds on the Kyoto Accord; COP27 (Conference of the Parties, held in Egypt November 2022, The new big question is: “Who should pay for the losses and damages caused by climate change?”); Annie Leonard’s (2010) The Story of Stuff. How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, our Communities, and our Health and a Vision for Change. (In 315 pages with Index, covers: Extraction, Production, Distribution, Consumption, and Disposal. See also the three Appendices.); Paul Hawken’s (2021) Regeneration. Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation. (Sections cover: Oceans; Forests; Wilding; Land; People; The City; Food; Energy; Industry; and, Action+ Connection. Well illustrated, 256 pages, but no Index.); and, the one hot off the press: Geoff Dembicki’s (2022) The Petroleum Papers. Inside the Far-Right Conspiracy to Cover Up Climate Change. (In 285 pages with Notes and Index, covers: I: the First Warnings (1959-2013); II: The Early Construction of Denial (1968-1988); III: Solutions Known and Sabotaged (1988-2002); IV: A Public Awakening (1997-2008); V: Blame Canada (2006-2010); VI: The Climate Crisis Goes to Court (2008-2014); VII: Well-Oiled Allies (2016-2019); and, VIII: The Right to Live (2020-2022). Note Chapter V deals with our famous tar sands. (Just like with Big Tobacco, litigation has started against Big Oil. Google “New Jersey & other USA jurisdictions that are suing the fossil fuel industry for loss and damages.”)
Hopefully, for the next 28 years to 2050, Bill Gates (age 67 now) will re-echo his plea: Climate change is humanity’s greatest existential challenge; to reach net-zero! Mobilization at this scope, at this scale, at this speed, for this long has never been done before! But he remains optimistic! Please build on his optimism by doing everything you can to help slow climate change! All the references above suggest ways!
Disclaimer: Ideas and views expressed here are those of the author
