Climate refugees cannot be sent back home, United Nations rules in landmark decision

longview · Jan 28, 2020

W_Heisenberg said:
I have an idea. Why don't you help me teach others? How does that sound?

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So, I can put you in the camp of global warming is real, it happens, but it's not going to warm that much more, primarily because global carbon dioxide emissions will flatten out, and whatever warming occurs we'll be able to adjust to it, and it will not have much impact on global human civilization so we don't need to worry about it that much. Specifically, we do not need to change our policies related to the environment or to the economy?

Is that an accurate encapsulation of your opinion? I want to make sure I have your position pinned down before I respond in greater detail.

Fairly accurate, Humanity does have some real problems, but CO2 is no where near the top of the list!
We do need to address our real problems which are related to the environment and economy.
The most basic problem is energy, We (the first and second world), have radically improved both our lifestyles and lifespans,
through having energy on demand as needed. Transportation, refrigeration, agriculture, and sanitation, all contributed
to our improved lifestyles. I suspect the rest of the world might like to take advantage of of these improvements.
The problem is that we cannot do that with fossil fuels alone, there is no sustainable path forward for the current population
of our planet, to all live a first world lifestyle, based on fossil fuels.
Photovoltaic solar could be the answer, but we need to be able to store the energy gathered to use when the sun is not shining.
In Science, many times nature show us the best way to do something, nature mostly stores energy as hydrocarbons!
We already have a vast infrastructure for distributing hydrocarbon fuels, and those made from atmospheric CO2, would be completely
carbon neutral, (No new emissions).
The technology is already being developed.
Green Syngas - Sunfire
NRL Receives US Patent for Carbon Capture Device: A Key Step in Synthetic Fuel Production from Seawater | News
The next steps are to clear out the antiquated regulatory road blocks for solar's expansion,
and to develop applications to allow remote 3 rd world people to utilize the new technology.
I can imagine, a large shipping container, loaded with solar panels, a small fuel plant, and small local electrical grid.
the system would provide enough electricity to run small appliances like refrigerators, pumps, water purification, and also provide
limited fuel for a tractor. A remote village could set up the station and radically improve their food production.

The economic viability point at the level of today's technology is about $90 a barrel oil. (I can go over the formula if you like).
This would be a sustainable path forward, we have more than enough sunlight, we only need a seasonal storage vehicle.

W_Heisenberg · Jan 28, 2020

longview said:
Fairly accurate, Humanity does have some real problems, but CO2 is no where near the top of the list!
We do need to address our real problems which are related to the environment and economy.
The most basic problem is energy, We (the first and second world), have radically improved both our lifestyles and lifespans,
through having energy on demand as needed. Transportation, refrigeration, agriculture, and sanitation, all contributed
to our improved lifestyles. I suspect the rest of the world might like to take advantage of of these improvements.
The problem is that we cannot do that with fossil fuels alone, there is no sustainable path forward for the current population
of our planet, to all live a first world lifestyle, based on fossil fuels.
Photovoltaic solar could be the answer, but we need to be able to store the energy gathered to use when the sun is not shining.
In Science, many times nature show us the best way to do something, nature mostly stores energy as hydrocarbons!
We already have a vast infrastructure for distributing hydrocarbon fuels, and those made from atmospheric CO2, would be completely
carbon neutral, (No new emissions).
The technology is already being developed.
Green Syngas - Sunfire
NRL Receives US Patent for Carbon Capture Device: A Key Step in Synthetic Fuel Production from Seawater | News
The next steps are to clear out the antiquated regulatory road blocks for solar's expansion,
and to develop applications to allow remote 3 rd world people to utilize the new technology.
I can imagine, a large shipping container, loaded with solar panels, a small fuel plant, and small local electrical grid.
the system would provide enough electricity to run small appliances like refrigerators, pumps, water purification, and also provide
limited fuel for a tractor. A remote village could set up the station and radically improve their food production.

The economic viability point at the level of today's technology is about $90 a barrel oil. (I can go over the formula if you like).
This would be a sustainable path forward, we have more than enough sunlight, we only need a seasonal storage vehicle.

These are eminently reasonable positions and policy proposals.

I also think reframing things in terms of total energy usage of global human civilization can be very constructive.

If you'd permit some time to respond to your argument related to CO2 and potential harm to the planet, and more importantly, to global human civilization, I'll respond at some point in the near future.