The horizon is not so far as we can see, but as far as we can imagine

Open Thread

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Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – September 1, 2019

8 Comments

  1. Cael

    Not sure if there are any Wait But Why readers here, but Tim Urban is releasing a new piece on society: https://waitbutwhy.com/2019/08/story-intro.html

    First three chapters are out, and there are some interesting counterpoints to some of Ian’s views on kindness, tribal society, etc. Worth the read if you have the time.

  2. Methane, the primary component of fracked gas, is a highly questionable solution for decarbonization or reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Fracked gas is commonly purported to be a “cleaner” alternative to other fossil fuels but that notion comes from looking at only a pixel in the full emissions picture. Our common understandings are inaccurate. When researchers examine the full climate impact of natural gas, many conclude that it is not substantially better than other fossil fuels and under some circumstances may even be worse.

    It’s true that fracked gas does reduce non-greenhouse gas (GHG) pollutants like particulate matter and sulfur dioxide. But we have to challenge the notion that we should build more large-scale fracked gas infrastructure instead of choosing solutions that reduce those pollutants without introducing more methane—“CO2 on steroids”—into the atmosphere.

    We have to stop doing what we’re doing. It isn’t working.

    https://www.sightline.org/2019/02/12/methane-climate-change-co2-on-steroids/

  3. metamars

    Comedian not impressed with the unspoken message of Obama’s new house on the beach.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=107&v=fLljxBoS4nY

    Perhaps recently arrived Greta Thunberg will set him straight! She can SAIL to Obama’s new digs!

  4. metamars

    Trump thinks he’s a great speaker:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s03BApyJvSE

    Oh, yeah. It’d be so easy to confuse him with Nigel Farage, George Galloway, and Julian Bond, if we just read transcripts.

  5. Stirling S Newberry

    Gelb is dead, we will (some of us) miss him.

    Edo Zanki is dead, and English speakers do not care.

  6. anon y'mouse

    for those who may find the idea of “appropriate technology” interesting

    https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2017/09/how-to-run-the-economy-on-the-weather.html

  7. different clue

    That comedian-guy has an interesting idea, in a way. The fact that Obama and Gore feel safe buying mansions by the sea should encourage everyone else who suspects climate change sea level rise to be not all that real . . . . to buy houses by the sea. Probably not mansions because most people can’t afford mansions.

    And the people who think “zombie house” might be a good idea, figuratively speaking, can sell their seaside houses to the no-problem people to take their places by the seaside.

    There should be a national movement to get all the “no problem here” people together with all the “I want out” people so all people of those two different viewpoints can trade places, elevation above sea-level-wise speaking.

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