More Green Capitalism

At the invite of Missoula climate activists, Bill McKibben is coming to the annual Climate Expo. Given the increasingly dire climate situation, it will be interesting to see what tone he adopts. For decades he has led the "since we can't do anything about capitalism, let's not bring it up" camp. These folks don't want to put off the average Joe so they avoid the C word and focus on the wonders of The Paris Accord and The Inflation Reduction Act. An Electric Vehicle in every garage! But a sober assessment would show a planet not just stuck up Shit Creek but headed over the falls. Because profit. The Paris Accord is words on a document. The IRA is giant subsidies seeking low-risk investment. But instead of Market Miracles harnessing technological wizardry to save our bacon we see accelerating market failure. Forget the obvious protectionist tariff war with China -whch totally undermines de-carbonization. Look to eel grass. Capitalist profiteers want to dump lime in rivers to create carbon sinks ( how much CO2 does it take to mine and transport lime?) Meanwhile, a natural carbon sink, eel grass, is disappearing at a frightening rate due to the effects of industrial civilization. Fossil Fuel emmissions are increasing, energy demand is increasing, global extracivism is increasing and "overshoot" of 1.5 is certain. Because profit. As for that great movement Bill Mc Kibben inspired, Democrats now boast about presiding over the oil boom. From the NY Times: "Democrats feel no pressure from the environmental movement or young climate-minded voters." Kind of says it all.