The Global Energy Transition: Critical Minerals & Water Scarcity
The water issues surrounding copper and lithium are daunting and may seem shocking (and dangerous) to tolerate. New mines will exacerbate existing water scarcity. Yet at some point (not yet) every EV battery that hits the road will not only reduce our reliance on oil but will save substantial amounts of water. The question is, do we have sufficient supply to complete this transition at all?
September 28, 2023
To Boldly NOT Go into Space
Time to prioritize solving critical problems again, before destruction of the Earth systems we depend on triggers civilizational collapse, and humanity’s brief jaunts into space become a barely-remembered memory or even just a myth.
September 27, 2023
Can modernity last?
We will likely shed more than a few tears at modernity’s passing, and that’s understandable. But joy awaits as well.
September 27, 2023
In-depth Q&A: What do Rishi Sunak’s U-turns mean for UK climate policy?
In a shock announcement, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak revealed earlier this week plans to abandon or delay core parts of his government’s climate strategy.
September 26, 2023
It seems like the next big fight
Just a single proposed terminal that I talk about in the New Yorker piece—the so-called CP2 LNG plant proposed for Cameron Parish, Louisiana—would over its lifetime be associated with twenty times the greenhouse gas emissions of the huge Willow oil complex that Biden controversially approved earlier this year.
September 26, 2023
Breaking the law in response to climate change
I do think it’s necessary to control Big Oil, and to stop governments subsidising fossil fuels, and given the sheer scale and influence of the oil companies I’m not sure what we’re going to have to do make that happen.
September 25, 2023
How to Take out a Pipeline
The speed of economic growth hinges to a large extent on the supply of fossil fuel, especially of oil and gas, which depends in turn on pipeline capacity. Thus, if we are to turn the tide against economic growth, pipelines are a good strategic place to start.
September 22, 2023
The Great Unraveling
Environmental and social challenges are compounding to threaten the systems that support the world we know. What does this Great Unraveling mean for human civilization and the global ecosystem?