We are so far behind the curve in implementing the desperate measures we need to stop letting nature destroy us under here cruel and immutable rules of physics. We’ve just experienced our first year at an average global temperature rise at that symbolic 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) level. As I write this blog, yet another atmospheric river, in El Niño hell amplified to new levels in climate change’s warmest Pacific water, is drenching California. Houses are sliding off cliffs as mud builds and landslides are everywhere. States to the east know they are next for flooding. Yet, people who want to cooperate and get EV cars are increasingly disappointed in driving them for “road trip” distances.
There just aren’t enough charging stations. And for even those that are accessible, the money allocated for new charging stations did not include the maintenance cost that they most certainly required. Charging times are prohibitively long unless you can rely on your home system. I even got a recall notice on my portable charger-plug for my hybrid: too many available inexpensive charging stations are developing dangerous levels of heat. Often, to use a charging station, you have to go online and prebuy a minimum amount of electricity… even if you are unlikely to go back to that station ever again. It’s not like going to a ubiquitous gas station where you can use a credit/debit card or just pay cash.
China is selling its EV cars like hotcakes, and they are making charging stations work in their major cities. Despite its excessive reliance on demon coal, China is accelerating its use of alternative energy. As EV cars in much of the Western world are losing popularity because of the charging issue, China’s EV business is flourishing. European, Japanese and American EV sales are down, just as China is barely able to keep up with demand for their EV cars. Automotive experts are predicting that current trends just might push China to be the major carmaker on earth as a result of their focus on charging stations. It’s one of the few bright spots in a decimated PRC economy.
Our do-nothing Congress, driven by the hopelessly gridlocked MAGA-controlled House, wants to repeal as many budget allocations to climate change infrastructure as they can and refocus on more oil and gas drilling. They want to repeal environmental rules, defund administrative agencies, all just to keep taxes for the richest 5% of Americans low. The main reason we even have a budget deficit is our unwillingness to tax wealth… so that staggering interest on our national debt becomes a burden for us all. Acknowledging that the net negative impact on US EV vehicle sales is slowing our national response to contain climate change, even Biden has been forced to relax some of his fossil fuel restriction targets.
And that recent gung-ho response to fossil fuel responsibility found in many US corporations is also fading. Many because supporting EV vehicles is “woke” and contrary to MAGA doctrine… and there is increasing fear that Trump just might ascend to the presidency and unleash his massive prescreened cadre of Heritage Foundation MAGA government destroyers, ready to fill political appointments from top to bottom, to take down regulatory agencies and “woke” policies. And as David Gellers, writing for the February 19th New York Times, tells us: “Many of the world’s biggest financial firms spent the past several years burnishing their environmental images by pledging to use their financial muscle to fight climate change.
“Now, Wall Street has flip-flopped… In recent days, giants of the financial world including JPMorgan, State Street and Pimco all pulled out of a group called Climate Action 100+, an international coalition of money managers that was pushing big companies to address climate issues… [In] the past few weeks, things accelerated significantly. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, scaled back its involvement in the group. Bank of America reneged on a commitment to stop financing new coal mines, coal-burning power plants and Arctic drilling projects. And Republican politicians, sensing momentum, called on other firms to follow suit.
“The reasons behind the burst of activity reveal how difficult it is proving to be for the business world to make good on its promises to become more environmentally responsible. While many companies say they are committed to combating climate change, the devil is in the details… ‘This was always cosmetic,’ said Shivaram Rajgopal, a professor at Columbia Business School. ‘If signing a piece of paper was getting these companies into trouble, it’s no surprise they’re getting the hell out.’
“American asset managers have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of their clients, and the financial firms were worried that a new strategy by Climate Action 100+ could expose them to legal risks… Embracing E.S.G. principles and speaking up on climate issues has become commonplace across corporate America in recent years. Chief executives warned about the dangers of climate change. Banks and asset managers formed alliances to phase out fossil fuels. Trillions of dollars were allocated for sustainable investing.
“At the same time, a backlash grew, with Republicans claiming that banks and asset mangers were supporting progressive politics with their climate commitments… The fracturing of Climate Action 100+ was a victory for Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, who has led a campaign against companies pursuing E.S.G. goals, shorthand for environmental, social and governance factors… Some states, including Texas and West Virginia, banned banks from doing business with the state if the firms were distancing themselves from fossil fuel companies. And late in 2022, Mr. Jordan began an antitrust investigation into the group, calling it a ‘climate-obsessed corporate ‘cartel.’… On Thursday [2/15], he said in on a post on X that the news represented ‘big wins for freedom and the American economy, and we hope more financial institutions follow suit in abandoning collusive ESG actions.’”
While the numbers tell us that today, only 15-16% of Americans believe climate change to be a hoax, heavily weighted with GOP voters, there is so much resistance to government spending that climate change commitments have increasingly fallen between the cracks. Yet wildfires, floods, coastal erosion and violent storms are accelerating… as if dealing with the massive damage from those events is a tolerable cost… but turning climate change around is not.
I’m Peter Dekom, and unless we either deal with reality or repeal the laws of physics, life among these “natural disasters” just might accelerate, making life move from intermittent nastiness to always miserable to intolerable… all in the immediate future.
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