Well, banks aren't the only corporations in the hall of shame. It is fashionable among many to make net zero commitments but, as has been pointed out, few have solid plans for doing so. Strategies for reaching net zero can be developed and, equally important, measured. Shareholders need to hold corporations accountable if they fail to adopt actionable strategies and carry them out.
I’ve watched banks both reduce lending to fossil fuel projects and make it much more expensive because of both shareholder pressure and fear of lending to a volatile and sometimes troubled industry. I’ve watched private equity withdraw because of pension fund pressure and the same commercial fears. Capital is greedy, but not stupid. Capital sees the trends and will be responsive to them. Cutting credit cards is silly. We still need a ton of fossil fuel and it needs to be financed. Trust me, if consumer demand dissipates the banks will fly away from the sector in a heartbeat. But banks won’t and shouldn’t beat the consumer to the door. So get solar and drive an electric car…now. Money is watching closely.
You people are goofy. You stop driving cars, stop heating your house, turn off your electricity, stop flying in private planes, eat ,less food, walk everywhere. You are the HYPOCRITES in this world.
Imagine a map of the earth's surface (including oceans) divided into square grid boxes with sides of 18 miles. Then imagine a Hiroshima-size bomb exploding in each grid box every day.
That is the heat delivered to the troposphere by earth's inhabitants each day. (The heat of 600,000 Hiroshima detonations equally-spaced over earth's surface, 197 million sq.mi.)
In the contiguous states of the U.S.A. there are 9,500 contiguous grid boxes, such that the heat of 9,500 Hiroshimas is sent to the atmosphere each day, using average heat figures for world output, as cited by Gore.
I hold no brief for the banks nor any other polluters. "Global warming" is real and sad.
But all I've been hearing lately is the relentless whining about what is "wrong," over and over, and precious little suggestion as to what to DO about it. I honestly don't think much CAN be done, beyond a few windmills and solar panels, and electric cars smugly driven on roads paid for by fuel-tax-payers. I keep wondering about the air pollution near the plants generating all that "carbon-free" electricity!
I have traveled a fair amount in the "Third World," and I know how much those people rely on carbon-based transportation for their daily lives. I have lived in rural Va. almost my whole life, and there is no "carbon-free mass transit" out this way! Arbitrarily increasing fuel taxes as a way to reduce consumption will only screw those of us who MUST burn carbon just to get to work, or buy groceries!
I don't have any "solutions" to the problem, but I am tired of the whining.
Thanks for writing. Whining is unproductive. Gloom is unproductive. What helps are smart ways of transitioning to a new net zero economy. That will not happen right away, but we are finally on the right path and just need to stay on it. In your rural area, for instance, there's now federal funding for electric car charging stations. If some significant number of people can transition over the next decade to electric cars, it will help.
Electric everything. What do have to charge them with? How do you think electric cars work in subzero temps. There are rolling blackouts now. You need another 5000 power plants.
I think you are right about what might "help" within the US, but I have my doubts about the worldwide changeover. And I think too many want to merely impose some sort of "tax" to discourage consumption of hydrocarbons rather than do actual cleanup and conversions.
The increased "tax" (or "fee") will only make things harder for those who have no choice but to burn gasoline. The dominance of hydrocarbon fuels is not going to disappear anytime soon, I think.
Just consider ALL the chainsaws, weedeaters, leaf blowers, lawnmowers, motorcycles, outboard boats, go-karts, scooters, etc. That's a LOT of gasoline likely to be burned for a long time to come! I learned in auto mechanics school that gas engines are, at most, only 15% or so "efficient" in terms of fuel consumed vs. energy output achieved.
(Almost as bad as filament bulbs!)
Many tout the coming "free" energy of hydrogen in seawater, but I understand it consumes more electricity to separate the hydrogen from water by electrolysis than can be generated by the burnt hydrogen!
If it were truly "up to the banks" it would find faster adoption. However, it's really up to the bankers that work there, and how much compensation they're willing to forgo in their paycheck today to invest the future of the world. Not so easy.
The front-line soldiers of the climate change movement - Bill, Greta, and Al - are fighting a Sisyphean battle and deserve our strenuous support. Despite their efforts to inform and cajole, the noise is drowning out their message - U.S. Republicans send phony signals to gullible suckers and clog up the congressional channels for reform.
As Al Gore tells us, the thin troposphere absorbs and retains the heat of 600,000 Hiroshima bombs PER DAY! Our planet is in distress. Our leaders must retake the political arena from climate deniers, greedy multinational banks, and ignorant mugwumps and know-nothings, or our children and their children will suffer.
If these people are so enthusiastic you would not be like all gore with the biggest carbon footprint of all. Hypocrisy at it's height. And Greta, she is a useful idiot. One set of rules for them and another one for us.
Well, banks aren't the only corporations in the hall of shame. It is fashionable among many to make net zero commitments but, as has been pointed out, few have solid plans for doing so. Strategies for reaching net zero can be developed and, equally important, measured. Shareholders need to hold corporations accountable if they fail to adopt actionable strategies and carry them out.
I’ve watched banks both reduce lending to fossil fuel projects and make it much more expensive because of both shareholder pressure and fear of lending to a volatile and sometimes troubled industry. I’ve watched private equity withdraw because of pension fund pressure and the same commercial fears. Capital is greedy, but not stupid. Capital sees the trends and will be responsive to them. Cutting credit cards is silly. We still need a ton of fossil fuel and it needs to be financed. Trust me, if consumer demand dissipates the banks will fly away from the sector in a heartbeat. But banks won’t and shouldn’t beat the consumer to the door. So get solar and drive an electric car…now. Money is watching closely.
You people are goofy. You stop driving cars, stop heating your house, turn off your electricity, stop flying in private planes, eat ,less food, walk everywhere. You are the HYPOCRITES in this world.
I'm not turning off diddly, and neither are most other people!
Alan, you have a weird sense of humor - but I like it! For a minute I thought you were being serious!
Yes, just a little levity. Just too many people. I wish the people who want to save the planet do themselves so others can live don't you?
Imagine a map of the earth's surface (including oceans) divided into square grid boxes with sides of 18 miles. Then imagine a Hiroshima-size bomb exploding in each grid box every day.
That is the heat delivered to the troposphere by earth's inhabitants each day. (The heat of 600,000 Hiroshima detonations equally-spaced over earth's surface, 197 million sq.mi.)
In the contiguous states of the U.S.A. there are 9,500 contiguous grid boxes, such that the heat of 9,500 Hiroshimas is sent to the atmosphere each day, using average heat figures for world output, as cited by Gore.
Your are crazy.
Terrifying. Thanks JoAnne...
I hold no brief for the banks nor any other polluters. "Global warming" is real and sad.
But all I've been hearing lately is the relentless whining about what is "wrong," over and over, and precious little suggestion as to what to DO about it. I honestly don't think much CAN be done, beyond a few windmills and solar panels, and electric cars smugly driven on roads paid for by fuel-tax-payers. I keep wondering about the air pollution near the plants generating all that "carbon-free" electricity!
I have traveled a fair amount in the "Third World," and I know how much those people rely on carbon-based transportation for their daily lives. I have lived in rural Va. almost my whole life, and there is no "carbon-free mass transit" out this way! Arbitrarily increasing fuel taxes as a way to reduce consumption will only screw those of us who MUST burn carbon just to get to work, or buy groceries!
I don't have any "solutions" to the problem, but I am tired of the whining.
H. Watkins Ellerson
PO Box 90
Hadensville, VA 23067
(804) 457-4243
Thanks for writing. Whining is unproductive. Gloom is unproductive. What helps are smart ways of transitioning to a new net zero economy. That will not happen right away, but we are finally on the right path and just need to stay on it. In your rural area, for instance, there's now federal funding for electric car charging stations. If some significant number of people can transition over the next decade to electric cars, it will help.
Electric everything. What do have to charge them with? How do you think electric cars work in subzero temps. There are rolling blackouts now. You need another 5000 power plants.
I think you are right about what might "help" within the US, but I have my doubts about the worldwide changeover. And I think too many want to merely impose some sort of "tax" to discourage consumption of hydrocarbons rather than do actual cleanup and conversions.
The increased "tax" (or "fee") will only make things harder for those who have no choice but to burn gasoline. The dominance of hydrocarbon fuels is not going to disappear anytime soon, I think.
Just consider ALL the chainsaws, weedeaters, leaf blowers, lawnmowers, motorcycles, outboard boats, go-karts, scooters, etc. That's a LOT of gasoline likely to be burned for a long time to come! I learned in auto mechanics school that gas engines are, at most, only 15% or so "efficient" in terms of fuel consumed vs. energy output achieved.
(Almost as bad as filament bulbs!)
Many tout the coming "free" energy of hydrogen in seawater, but I understand it consumes more electricity to separate the hydrogen from water by electrolysis than can be generated by the burnt hydrogen!
There IS no "free lunch"!
If it were truly "up to the banks" it would find faster adoption. However, it's really up to the bankers that work there, and how much compensation they're willing to forgo in their paycheck today to invest the future of the world. Not so easy.
Good point. Banks are only as responsible or irresponsible as the people who work in them.
Thanks for highlighting the greenwashing of banks and the work of Bill McKibben and Third Act.
Appreciate this climate focused article!
Thanks, Ellen..
The front-line soldiers of the climate change movement - Bill, Greta, and Al - are fighting a Sisyphean battle and deserve our strenuous support. Despite their efforts to inform and cajole, the noise is drowning out their message - U.S. Republicans send phony signals to gullible suckers and clog up the congressional channels for reform.
As Al Gore tells us, the thin troposphere absorbs and retains the heat of 600,000 Hiroshima bombs PER DAY! Our planet is in distress. Our leaders must retake the political arena from climate deniers, greedy multinational banks, and ignorant mugwumps and know-nothings, or our children and their children will suffer.
If these people are so enthusiastic you would not be like all gore with the biggest carbon footprint of all. Hypocrisy at it's height. And Greta, she is a useful idiot. One set of rules for them and another one for us.