[MCN] Is climate necessity socially unacceptable?

[Lance Olsen]

"The most penetrating criticism I’ve seen of renewable energy is that it’s being promoted at massive scale to reassure us that we can go on as before, with little if any change of lifestyle, no implications for the pursuit of convenience and comfort. And yet, it raises a big and uncomfortable question. Do we mine, baby, mine, to ensure no reduction of convenience and living standards, no uncomfortable change of lifestyle?”

“There’s no doubt that we need to build and buy the machinery needed to generate renewable energy from solar and wind. The mining basic to the building is going to happen. IRA has put the incentives to the buying in place. The need for building solar and wind capacity is too great to deny.

“But there’s no denying that much of the demand is driven by striving for a comfort zone and easy conveniences beyond anything that deserves the name of need. Recognizing this uncomfortable reality, 50 non-governmental organizations have recently scolded the World Bank for its Climate-Smart Mining proposal—which focuses a lot on how much mining would need to increase and not at all on how we need to reduce consumption.

(Edited excerpt) The Paradox Of Building America's Green Lifestyle Grid 
Lance Olsen
https://mountainjournal.org/renewable-energy-solves-one-problem-but-creates-another

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“I just want it to be clear that the mainstream environmental movement has been asking very little of people for decades,” said Bea Ruiz, also an organizer with the U.S. national [ Extinction Rebellion ] team. 

“There’s no element of, ‘We are in an emergency. We all need to do more than what we’re doing.”

“We’re trying to put out there what’s necessary, not what people think is politically possible.”

Extinction Rebellion’s radical philosophy
July 22 2019
https://thinkprogress.org/the-radical-philosophy-of-extinction-rebellion-5857d3955b57/




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