Comments on: Backcountry Skiing News Roundup

By: Lou

Lou — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 13:54:49 +0000

Julin, indeed, if one does some web research they can find all sorts of proposed grand-scale scientific and industrial solutions to global warming. It’s been interesting to me that these are so infrequently mentioned by folks such as Gore and his fans. If the problem is so serious that it will cause a worldwide disaster of the likes we’ve never seen, one would think we would be looking to do something drastic such as a space shield, rather than muddling around for years with alternative energy sources while, for example, China and India ramp up their C02 production.

And… not that alternative energy and conservation are inherently bad or anything like that, but solving the problem that way could take decades, and according to Gore we probably don’t have that much time.

By: Julin Maloof

Julin Maloof — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:55:57 +0000

The fact that there is currently no “magic bullet” leads to the perception that there is nothing that can be done about CO2 emissions. There was an interesting article published in Science a few years ago suggesting that if instead of waiting for a magic bullet we combined all of our current technology that we could solve the climate change problem for the next 50 years. If true that would buy us some time to really develop a more comprehensive energy solution. Food for thought. I paste the abstract below and link for the full article at the bottom (unfortunately you may need a subscription or affiliation with a University to access the full article).

Science 13 August 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5686, pp. 968 – 972

Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies

S. Pacala and R. Socolow

Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical, and industrial know-how to solve the carbon and climate problem for the next half-century. A portfolio of technologies now exists to meet the world’s energy needs over the next 50 years and limit atmospheric CO2 to a trajectory that avoids a doubling of the preindustrial concentration. Every element in this portfolio has passed beyond the laboratory bench and demonstration project; many are already implemented somewhere at full industrial scale. Although no element is a credible candidate for doing the entire job (or even half the job) by itself, the portfolio as a whole is large enough that not every element has to be used.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/305/5686/968

By: Lou

Lou — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 16:44:31 +0000

Okay skiakl, always good advice to lighten up, I’ll do so. It is kind of a grim subject… nice to get out and enjoy life. Along the lines of humor, I was laughing this morning because I never noticed that the title of this post had the word “New” instead of “News.”

By: skiakl

skiakl — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:23:47 +0000

It’s nothing to do with “I’m greener than you”, or eco-religion or anything like that, Lou. C’mon, you’re asking for feedback and people are offering it!! Lighten up!

By: Lou

Lou — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 02:39:12 +0000

Chris, my view is that we indeed should pursue alternative energy to some degree, be wise in our consumption and so forth. But I feel that the process of global warming can’t be stopped and that adaptation is key. As for Aspen (the city, not the ski company) being a leader — it’s easy to play around with feel-good stuff when you’ve got a $140,000,000 yearly city budget for a population of 6,000 people ($23,000 per person per year, by the way). As for podunk USA looking at that as an example, I don’t think so.

Let’s put it this way. At least 40 percent of Aspen’s carbon is from private jets (not sure if that’s total carbon or transportation carbon, but you get the point). They’ve done NOTHING to limit the use of private jets, while harassing commuters to no end with parking restrictions and artificial traffic jams. Those facts alone should make anyone realize that Aspen’s “leadership” in carbon reduction is a sham and simply another example of the poor and middle class bearing the brunt of government whims.

If Aspen was serious and as populist as they seem to see themselves, they’d immediately start buying a few thousand high mileage cars every year and give them away to commuters. Then they would cut private jet travel to and from the town by at least 75%. That would show some leadership.

Okay, there you go, something concrete from me. Your turn. How exactly is the world going to reduce carbon emission by 50% in just a few years, which as far as I can research is the only way to stop global warming?

And give us something more than “thinking globally.” Thinking is great, but…