Notes From an Environmentalist; "Not the End of the Earth?"

“Not the End of the World?”

I’ve just finished a book that took me to task. I’ve written more than my share of gloom and doom articles. It is an occupational hazard of those of us covering the environment these days.

But Hannah Ritchie the author of “Not the End of the World” uses data to show that things may not be as bad as they may seem to be. She argues that all the gloom and doom stories obscure the fact that we at an inflection point in our energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

I also have to admit that during the midst of Covid I flirted with the idea that perhaps a worldwide pandemic would solve our climate crisis by trimming back the out of control population bomb.But I have revised my thinking. Even though we can be a pretty disappointing species, some of my best friends turn out to be human beings.

I grew up in “Turn on tune in drop out” environmental movement of the Sixties. Our solution was to do less, consume less, live off grid in the country style, dive smaller cars, take fewer trips and far fewer flights.

Ritchie reminds us that countries like China, and regions like the European Union and now finally the United States have embarked on an energy transition that is as profound as it is obscure to those of us within it.Twenty years ago nobody thought wind and solar would be where they are today.

It was only 16 years ago that Elon Musk chipped his earnings from PayPal designed a Tesla and gave away his patents so the world could have electric cars.

Today in countries like Norway more than 80% of the cars are on the road are electric.So this energy transition seems unstoppable even with drastic world events and political change. The question is will it be enough, and soon enough, to reverse global warming and keep our planet safe for humankind.

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