TIME: How to Halt Global Warming for $300 Billion.
Here is another reminder of one of many steps that need to be taken. And, to avoid jumping to any quick conclusions about not having the money to pay for it, here are some important stats. Depending on the calculation (ie how much direct vs indirect support is included etc), fossil fuel subsidies, globally, are in the range of $300 billion-$5.2 trillion/year.
So, in terms of the strictly financial/economic side, $300B is easily doable, even on a conservative estimate, by moving fossil fuel subsidies over for one year.* Every year, after that, along with any available funds that go beyond the conservative estimate, are available for job transition training for fossil fuel workers, support for renewables, and countless other important pieces of this response. (How about buying EV busses and trains for every school/university and municipality/province in the country, and then offering free public transit on all of them? How about adding in post-secondary tuition for students at the same time? Solar panels on school rooftops? Heat pumps in every building? The possibilities are almost endless, with that much money. :))
* Details on Guardian , the Atlantic, IISD and others. (NOTE: I am not an economist, so I am trusting them that their numbers are accurate.)
Ultimately, this is not the final or only piece of the puzzle. We will still need to make dramatic lifestyle and systems changes. This simply helps to buy a little bit of time.
So what does this mean for next steps? Here’s what I see (among others):
- Elect government officials who are committed to ending fossil fuel subsidies (and work towards proportional representation, which will likely help with this piece).
- If your current representative (including all levels, from local up to the PM) does support fossil fuel subsidies, write letters/arrange a meeting etc (if you can) and explain why you would like them to change. Public pressure is really important to moving these kinds of changes forward.
- Reduce our own fossil fuel consumption as much as possible, and encourage others to do the same. (Take the train instead of flying. Seriously consider how often we are flying, overall. Reduce consumption of animal products etc.)
- One of the big obstacles that comes up in this discussion is “Others aren’t going to change, so there’s no point in me changing.” We are all responsible for our own piece, and, if we can help somebody else find a path to change with us, that’s even better. 🙂
- Remember that the point at which fossil fuel companies will start dropping in value (even in the current state) is likely coming sooning than many people realize.
How much longer are we going to subisdize something that is causing destruction, and isn’t even a good economic investment?
