I have argued for some time that climate is the issue which can finally challenge the current order (as the blog name implies). It is rewarding to see that Pres. contender Bernie Sanders agrees. As does DSA, judging by the resolution passed at the latest convention making the Green New Deal a priority. This plan put forward by the Sanders campaign represents a direct challenge to the Democratic Party Establishment and Third-Way liberals and is a condemnation of the strategy pursued by Obama and Clinton.
Bernie no doubt saw Biden's polling numbers and decided to go for broke. Jay Inslee should also get some credit for forcing the issue, as should the Sunrise youth and other activists. But most of all we need to thank Trump. He is the ultimate foil, the ultimate capitalist pig (David Koch ran a tight second, may he rot in hell)and as such has put a spotlight on political economy that would not have existed if some moderate was president. The antagonism and division which Obama hoped to paper over is exactly what we need to effect radical change. We see clearly now the absurdity of "post-racial" America as well as the brutality of the capitalist war on nature, both deliberately kept from view by liberalism. Without Trump, Greta's call for panic would have fallen on deaf ears.
But as radical as Bernie's climate plan is, we should be critical of a few aspects while supporting it in general. For instance the claim we can "build enough renewable energy generation capacity for the nation's growing needs" will help sell it to "progressives", but needs to be challenged on it's face. Obviously no politician is ready to say growth is the problem, but sooner or later we will have to face this key, foundational contradiction. We see the same approach when it comes to air travel; progressives need language which reassures but "fund a $150 billion dollar effort to fully de-carbonize aviation and maritime shipping and travel" is just pandering. That technology is like direct-air capture of CO2, nowhere near realization at scale. By reinforcing a religious belief that technology can save us, they set themselves up for failure. Best to not make promises you can't keep.
Aviation can NEVER be de-carbonized, unless we mine unobtainium from Pandora (ha!). There is no "safe" energetically dense enough energy source (convertible in lightweight engines/turbines) that can replace liquid fuels. Or perhaps we'd devote vaster swaths of (depleted) farmland to ethanol.
ReplyDeleteMaritime, O T O H can go back to sails, but that will entail a much smaller scale... aka degrowth.
It is where we are headed one way or another, either by deep adaptation or while kicking & screaming.