Joe Biden’s presidency has made monumental contributions to addressing climate change and clean energy advancement, and much more can come in a second term.
Yes, see great new book -- Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women by Batya Ungar-Sargon. And I will toe the line to get Biden reelected. At the same time, we are being lazy if we don't make the link between climate and economics -- whether is it job opportunities or the economic consequences of inaction. I spoke with an IPCC panelist at AGU shortly after the Paradise fires to ask about how they did their costing; turns out the full cost of rebuilding communities is not included. People also don't seem to register that we are all paying for FEMA checks, home insurance rates, planning commission meetings, mitigations, black lung disease costs, other health care costs related to fossil fuels*, mental health services, etc., not to speak of lost productivity, lost schooling, etc. People understand numbers, but we need to provide a full accounting of the true costs and help people connect the dots.
Good point. Going a level up, we can never solve the climate problem unless we reduce the political/economic power of pathologically selfish billionaires and corporations,. They have always been the main impediments to action. Electing Democrats on the principle that they'll tax the rich and corporations (a very popular argument) is a crucially pro-climate policy.
I'm a big fan of Batya Ungar-Sargon and have been in touch about having her on Sustain What this fall. Got familiar with her insights this spring: https://x.com/Revkin/status/1803137111140487305
The polls say it all. Yglesias didn't even mention some of the most telling polls. When people are asked what issues they worry about, it turns out that for nearly everyone, climate change doesn't make the top ten.
Yes, see great new book -- Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women by Batya Ungar-Sargon. And I will toe the line to get Biden reelected. At the same time, we are being lazy if we don't make the link between climate and economics -- whether is it job opportunities or the economic consequences of inaction. I spoke with an IPCC panelist at AGU shortly after the Paradise fires to ask about how they did their costing; turns out the full cost of rebuilding communities is not included. People also don't seem to register that we are all paying for FEMA checks, home insurance rates, planning commission meetings, mitigations, black lung disease costs, other health care costs related to fossil fuels*, mental health services, etc., not to speak of lost productivity, lost schooling, etc. People understand numbers, but we need to provide a full accounting of the true costs and help people connect the dots.
*https://prhe.ucsf.edu/press-release/petrochemical-proliferation-contributing-rise-health-problems#:~:text=Many%20petrochemicals%20are%20endocrine%2Ddisrupting,%2C%20cardiovascular%20disease%2C%20and%20infertility.
See also https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/10/climate-loss-and-damage-cost-16-million-per-hour/#:~:text=Follow-,The%20global%20cost%20of%20climate%20change%20damage%20is%20estimated%20to,%2C%20agriculture%2C%20and%20human%20health. Not that this will sway an impoverished American who needs to feed their family... But we can do better.
Good point. Going a level up, we can never solve the climate problem unless we reduce the political/economic power of pathologically selfish billionaires and corporations,. They have always been the main impediments to action. Electing Democrats on the principle that they'll tax the rich and corporations (a very popular argument) is a crucially pro-climate policy.
I'm a big fan of Batya Ungar-Sargon and have been in touch about having her on Sustain What this fall. Got familiar with her insights this spring: https://x.com/Revkin/status/1803137111140487305
The polls say it all. Yglesias didn't even mention some of the most telling polls. When people are asked what issues they worry about, it turns out that for nearly everyone, climate change doesn't make the top ten.