Once the gravity and severity of Climate Change is realized, a “warlike” global effort would solve Climate Change as in we all face a common enemy. Some steps will be required: Convincing irrefutable Scientific data that urgent action is required (ever increasing methane increase from tundra thawing). The realization that defense and other budgets will need to be redirected towards solutions, achievable by a truce agreement to stop weapon development and warfare in general, and a broad set of agreements:

1. Becoming as close to Zero Carbon Emissions ASAP
2. End deforestation, repair damaged climate systems, reforesting, and planting as much vegetation as possible.
3. Water purity, conservation, and availability
4. Negative population growth, something like, say, WOW1, Women of the World one child max and free contraception. What is a truly sustainable human population and how to get there?
5. A new economics not based on growth but rather sustainability and happiness (e.g. Doughnut Economics, Dorothy Raworth)
6. Localization: reducing transportation costs and self-sufficiency means less energy expenditure and incentives for net zeroing homes (what an individual can do)
7. Recycling, Repurposing, and building long lasting durable structures and items. Plastic industry step up to the plate (clean up the oceans!)
8. Research: better batteries, carbon and methane sequestration, etc. and cold fusion which would be a phenomenal breakthrough.
9. A brain trust to generate an optimal path.

And could the world return to a state of frozen tundra/safe again as a possible goal.

A worldwide political will, of course, will be needed. But if the facts are compelling enough, a seeming majority could get on board with a true Cooperation Of Parties. And just as FDR created a brain trust to solve the Great Depression, so will such brain power be needed to create a path to near Zero Carbon Emissions.

Current US electric consumption is 4000 Terawatts hours (TWh, trillion watts). Of that already non-fossil is: Nuclear: 771.54 TWh (19.3%), Wind: 434.3 TWh (11%), Hydropower: 254.70 TWh (6.4%) , and Solar PV’s: 143.8 TWh (3.6%) for a total of 1,602 TWh (40%). So, 2400 TWh needs to be made up alternatively yet. And conversion from gas heating (293 TWh) and gasoline use (15.2 TWh) will increase that to 2708 TWh. (my calculations from the web)

Now consider that the US is considering upgrading its nuclear arsenal to the tune of 1.5 trillion dollars. Suppose that money went towards non carbon energy. Let’s look at each category:

Wind power costs about $1 million per megawatt. That’d be 15 TW into service.

Photovoltaics? One GW costs $800 million. That’d be close to 2 TW

Nuclear, e.g.  A full MSR (Molten Salt Reactor) plant costs around $1.7 billion for a 500 megawatt capacity, $1.5 trillion would build 882 plants and yield 441 GW

So wind power looks like more bang for the buck. But there is weather variability and storage costs.

As one can see, substantially more money will need to be allocated to get to zero. “Goldman Sachs Research emphasizes that meeting net zero emissions by 2070 will demand infrastructure spending of $1.5 to $2 trillion annually, accumulating to a total of approximately $75 trillion over the coming decades.”

The issue is mass producing and installing these items in a short period of time, hence the “warlike effort. Because if Tipping point #2 (the oceans warm up 5.6°F releasing ocean floor methane) occurs, we are likely doomed. Is America great enough to take on the task and be a true enlightened world leader??

A friend once told me the reason large dinosaurs died out was because their nervous system was so slow that by the time they realized they were being attacked, they were already being devoured.

So, what’s the choice? Have a better capability to blow ourselves up or not to die of heat exhaustion, dried out farmland, likely worldwide famine, and all coastal cities and areas under water?

Does the world have a central nervous system and a brain or are we, the human race, just a runaway cancer? Time to get ideology and ego out of politics and apply a lot of basic common sense. Time for human race to come together in peace, collaboration, and determination.

Time for the Brain Trust to convene and get to work.

jeffreymanyhats.org