12 Approaches to Global Warming
EDITORIAL, 1 Sep 2008
#22 | Johan Galtung
There is much talk about global warming, and rightly so. But we need concrete ideas about moving from talk to action, possibly with two concerns lurking in the back of the mind:
- What is the human-generated percentage, as opposed to giant cosmic processes; and where is the good laboratory simulation?
- How much of this is promotion of nuclear as opposed to carbon-based energy; in Japan they now link Al Gore to nuclear lobbies?
However, even with low human-generated percentages, and ulterior motives, urgency commands action. The awareness has been there since Rachel Carson, Limits to Growth and Stockholm 1972, and among poor people all over for ages. Running downhill, we must reverse and solve, not “sustain” or “mitigate”. Thermically non-polluting technologies–using water-falls and tidal water; solar and wind-based; hydro- and geo-thermal, bio-mass and nuclear energy–are not “emerging”, they have been with us for a long time. A huge variety of energy conversion profiles, tailored to the local natural endowments, is today within reach.
Of course, research is always needed. Yet, today’s research priority is not to rediscover alternative technologies–which they, like everything else, will be subject to re-re-search and deepening goes without saying. What is needed now is research into what is holding it up. The rather obvious hypothesis is the (in)vested interest in oil, and its enormous infra-structure for production, transportation and end consumption. But exactly how do these forces operate? Is there a peak-revenue from which they will be less resistant to change? Is the condition that they co-opt the new technologies? When BP changed from British to Beyond Petroleum does this only mean that they, nobody else, would be in energy command, as opposed to Exxon, living a life in denial of global warming? Two ways of stifling change?
Let us look at twelve approaches for constructive ideas:
[1] Like for other toxic drugs, the producer, transporter and consumer of oil are all responsible for any negative impact. In an economic cycle Nature-Extraction-Production-Transportation-Consumption all links contribute, and according to the principle “the polluter pays” all cycle links should pay for the damage.
[2] As an example, Norway is high on all three, making the country the worst in the world per capita. As a consumer Norway produces 11 tonsCO2 per capita per year–as against the USA 20, China 4, India 2 and Africa less. But, Norway’s role in the oil cycle places Norway at 130tons CO2 per (Norwegian) capita per year. The extraction is less polluting, but like for other drugs the product is the problem, not the production process.
[3] The more the polluter pollutes, the more the polluter has to pay, for instance, to compensate for massive suffering in low-lying countries and islands, in the Pacific, Bangladesh and coastal areas, including acceptable relocation. Fortunately Norway has an oil fund, now called the Norwegian Pension Fund (abroad) that could serve as a contribution to compensation, together with compensation from other massive polluters; not disregarding local, state, regional and global solidarity funds.
[4] There is no way to pollution reduction, reduction is the way. Planting forests to convert CO2 into oxygen reduces pollution, but not emissions. The general approach must be to reduce the emission, using non-carbon-based energy conversion.
[5] Phase out the quota approach. Quotas do not reduce thermic pollution; as little as a smoker with quotas from non-smokers is saved from dying, or victims from a torturist country that buys “quotas” from non-torture countries. The quota approach is by and large an intellectual mistake, and a political disaster.
[6] Reduction of transportation pollution is top priority. In addition to minimizing the transportation distance through localization (see below) this includes:
* massive change from transportation to communication (IT, SKYPE, SMS), for corporate, governmental meetings, conferences etc.; quicker than transport, already on the way;
* dense nets of collective means of transportation, on the way;
* for land transport: trains, not trucks unless solar-powered;
* for sea transport: lower speed, possibly submarines to avoid wave and wind resistance, natural gas, possibly nuclear powered;
* for air transport: air ships, new approaches to helium.
[7] As a rule countries or communities of countries must become energy self-sufficient to reduce oil-motivated interventions and wars, a factor in many of the 243 US military interventions, and political manipulation, a factor in Russian energy policy.
[8] Joint global warming projects, like USA and Iran on oil export-import reduction and carbon free substitution, could be a major approach to conflict transformation and conciliation.
[9] Other major social evils, like slavery and colonialism, were not reduced by multilateral agreements or quotas, but by countries assuming leadership, showing the way for others. Singapore is interesting, China and parts of Africa may become.
[10] Energy equality is indispensable for reduction of global warming; countries with energy deficits will try to catch up by whatever means; calling for high diversity in energy profiles.
[11] Civil society leadership has been there all the time, with countless ordinary people saving and handling waste; the problem has been state and corporate actors. Massive boycotts/girlcotts to steer energy profiles will be key parts of future politics.
[12] In this whole process, alternatives (mainly web-based) have to be found to the corporate media; they are generally parts of the problem rather than of its solution.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 1 Sep 2008.
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