Thursday, October 8, 2015

This Changes Everything Part 2

Although we are not meeting to discuss the book this week due to Fall Break, I decided to post a blog anyway since the book is nicely divided into three parts.

The second part of the book focuses on the "Magical Thinking" solutions that have been thought of and how they have all failed. This section tended to be a very frustrating read. It seems that people want quick and easy fixes that don't get to the root of the problem, emissions. It was so infuriating that people care more about the money than saving the earth. It was also upsetting the bias towards Western countries over those that are poorer, but have not contributed to the problem.

I was hopeful that the CEO of Virgin, Branson, would actually do something with his proposal, but I knew there would be a but, and of course, there was. It amazes me that people haven't held him accountable for his promise and allowed him to just continue with emissions. I agree with Klein that it seems even the best intentions go away when money is involved. I believe Branson was on the right track with his promise and if followed through by him and other companies, there would be no need to fix pollution with pollution. Perhaps government regulation would fix this problem, but at the moment does not seem like it will happen soon.

Personally, the idea of geoengineering to stop climate change just seems like a terrible idea. First of all, this would just treat the symptoms, warming, and not the cause, emissions. Furthermore, it appears that it will do more harm than good. Although I do agree with Klein that if faced with people dying on the streets I would gladly agree with the SRM plans, but we are not at that point. I like to think that there is still a chance that we can change and not rely on these drastic solutions. I don't like the idea of putting earth on "life support" and completely relying on technology to sustain our way of life. There is something beautiful about an organic landscape, but these fixes will drastically alter the landscape. You will not be able to escape human's meddling with the environment when you are literally blocking out the sun. I couldn't believe that people found this less intrusive than using high efficiency light bulbs. It seems like there would be no greater government obtrusion.

Now that Klein has outlined what is currently being done and why it is failing, I am interested in seeing how she proposes we fix the problem. The first part of the book was very radical and did not seem practical so I am interested in seeing how everything will come together in the final chapters.

2 comments:

  1. The solutions of blocking out the sun *are* very disturbing. When I figured out a few years ago that people really thought that was a serious solution--I was flabbergasted. It was interesting to read how the sulfur dioxide/volcanic-esque solutions will severely alter rainfall patterns, and could likely impact the countries that already struggle. I find it interesting that although Klein is tearing down the curtain, she also offers very plausible solutions. WIll be interested to see what you think!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The solutions of blocking out the sun *are* very disturbing. When I figured out a few years ago that people really thought that was a serious solution--I was flabbergasted. It was interesting to read how the sulfur dioxide/volcanic-esque solutions will severely alter rainfall patterns, and could likely impact the countries that already struggle. I find it interesting that although Klein is tearing down the curtain, she also offers very plausible solutions. WIll be interested to see what you think!

    ReplyDelete