A veteran journalist who’s covered climate change for nearly 40 years says,
“I’ve reached a few conclusions. One obvious one: It’s time we quickly moved on from fossil fuels. Coal and oil were great energy systems for the 16th and 19th centuries, but we’re now dealing with the realities of the 21st century. … Other facts ― not “beliefs” ― I’ve gleaned from hundreds of interviews with scientists, many in remote field locations spanning four decades:
“1. Climate change is happening significantly faster than the ‘worst case’ scenarios ….
“2. We can expect a very rocky climate regime in the coming decades ….
“3. As the planet warms, we’re seeing … feedback loops emerge …
” … [I]t’s time to stop asking if we’ve reached some irreversible tipping point … everything we do moving forward is about triage, … saving what we can while we can, recognizing that some things are already baked into the climate system, such as intensifying heat waves ….”
For more details, read story here. Finally, he says, “we may yet be able to survive” I don’t think so. Human nature is in the way. But long term, without us, Earth’s biosphere and web of life eventually will recover.
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Unless one adopts nuclear energy in a big way it is not possible to move away from coal and oil. Renewables cannot meet the worlds needs. One could in theory power the entire planet from a few hundred square miles of Sahara and other deserts that encircle the world. If one has the ability to efficiently move the electricity from the source to the rest of the world, and store enough of the power for night time use.
Then again you cannot just turn off the petroleum industry or what is actually the petro chemical industry. There are plastics, the rubber from tires, medicines, diesel, lubricants, that will be needed even in a post fossil fuel world. The thing is coal and petroleum are wonderful products that are easily moved and contain a lot of energy for the buck. Chances are Biden does not have the political will or enough political capital to shut off the petroleum and coal industries. He is not going to be cutting ribbons at America’s new nuclear facilities. He is not going to park Air Force one and two and fly commercial or go by Presidential sailing yacht to overseas meetings. His is not going to shutter Marine One and walk to Bethesda or take a horse drawn carriage. He is not going to walk instead of taking the armored limousine to Capital Hill, and have all the Secret Service walk as well. Washington DC is not going to be a petrol vehicle free zone because the majority of Washington DC residents cannot afford a electric car, or any car except an ancient gas guzzling dinosaur from Detroit. The cops, FBI agents and other government workers are not the only ones who love Crown Vics.