Our politicians are running around protecting such a small percentage of the constituencies and ignoring the bigger problem at large. The earth has approached being 1.1°C warmer and we will reach the 1.5°C point as there is not enough being done today to stop warming. The question is will we act quickly enough to stop the doomsday 2°C warming?
Seth Godin just did a podcast on externalities and talked about a carbon dividend, which gets to the heart of the issue. Until carbon and methane have cost associated with it, moving the needle as much as it needs to be moved, it will not happen. There just isn’t enough of us green weenies to solve the problem. We can make some noise and that is about it.
With our politicians in such disarray, where will this drive for widescale change come from? Maybe it will be from the insurance and investment firms. Uncertainty caused by climate change may become too great for them to feel comfortable betting on large capital. As billionaire Ray Dalio says, “I make bets—not investments.”
Maybe the drive for change will come from some new cryptocurrency that is based upon a basket of currencies and the cost of carbon and/or methane. The value of the currency will be based upon the region where it is being used. The higher the carbon production—the less the currency is worth. In areas where all energy is produced by renewables, this currency will be worth more. The changes could also be based upon personal carbon footprint. For instance, if you have a higher carbon footprint, your personal purchasing power is less.
I’m not really sure what it will be, but I do believe there will be something in my lifetime that will happen that will make the externalities of carbon have a tangible value. Until that day comes, I will keep pushing to make the built environment to be as energy efficient as it can be.