This is a proposed course of action that addresses a glaring problem in our children’s lives. Climate change from global warming due to increased green house gases in the atmosphere will not be compatible with the seven billion people now on Earth. And they are expecting another two billion or so by 2050. We must take action now.
There are large issues of policy and property to be addressed but one immediate necessity must always get first priority. The electric grid must be maintained. We can live with less electricity but no electricity will lead to mass chaos in a few days. We must maintain the grid. Keeping the electric grid operating is the base for any mitigating action. We can cut our electricity use in half tomorrow and still maintain our world, but if the electric grid goes down and stays down it’s the ZA.
There is a good arguement being made that it is too late to avoid Near Term Extinction. NTE is certainly a challenge that we face, but physiologically we have no choice, we have to work toward the best outcome possible. I say physiologically because we are programed to survive. Everyone alive today is the current link in a chain of life that goes back for billions of years. All of us here today come from ancestors that refused to lay down and die when the times were difficult.
Regardless of how logical the arguments for NTE sound and how scientific all the models sound, and what all the graphs indicate, most of us are not constructed to function normally in the face of doom. If we are not working toward survival then we set off physiological responses in our body that will manifest as illness and pain. The danger of the zombie apocalypse is not only a giant storm or a stifling heat wave, it is also the mental collapse that leads to the physical collapse of a population in the face of doom.
Giving up is not an option. This is a plan for how we can actually do something that can mitigate the Zombie Apocalypse. It is not a proposal to save the world. It is a proposal to go in the right direction. It is always less painful to do the right thing no matter what short term temptations we face.
1. We have to minimize burning of hydrocarbons/alcohols. We must make a deal with the oil and coal companies – they get a lease on the Sun in exchange for their mineral rights to oil and coal.
2. We have to maximize photosynthesis. We must evaluate every square foot of Earth for photosynthetic potential and devise systems to achieve that potential.
The science of adding CO2 to the atmosphere is decades old. There is no scientific uncertainty We already have major damages from hydrocarbon combustion and it’s only just begun. We are in for some serious misery from the effects of hydrocarbon combustion byproducts from what we’ve already burned. The more we burn the more we will suffer. The less we burn the less we will suffer. At least equal to the misery from CO2 will be the misery from Ozone. Humans are dependent on photosynthesis for food. Ozone strongly inhibits photosynthesis. Ozone is produced by the interaction of hydrocarbon/alcohol combustion products with the atmosphere. The more Ozone we produce the less food we produce. We are diminishing our food supply as the number of eaters increases.
What’s wrong with this picture? What can we do to make it better?
We can stop burning hydrocarbons by giving the oil and coal companies a lease on the Sun in exchange for all their mineral rights. Some time last century, Ralph Nader said that solar energy would be feasible when Standard Oil figures out a way to put a meter on the Sun.
So let’s do it. They get a royalty payment from everyone who uses solar energy. We pay them for the sunshine, just like we pay now for the coal and oil, only there is no burning of hydrocarbon. That cuts back the CO2 and Ozone.
Then we put the focus of humanity on maximizing photosynthesis. Photosynthetic systems remove CO2 from the atmosphere and they store solar energy, in the chemical bonds, that would otherwise heat the environment. It will be lots of people out working the land with hoes and rakes and shovels. FARMERS FOR FORTY CENTURIES is a model for this future. Imagine putting the brain power that is now being spent on higher tech weapons systems and going to Mars and video games and the next billion dollar pharmaceutical,etc. to work assessing the face of the Earth and devising a system that uses people, water and soil to convert solar energy into chemical energy through bonding various molecules with CO2 from the atmosphere.
Is it already too late? Have we already gone too far? Those questions will not feed anyone. The science is perfectly clear. We can take actions based on the facts and suffer less or we can continue our delusion of infinite growth on a finite planet and suffer more.
What do you want for your children and grandchildren?