4875

Another casualty in the rise of right wing populism.

Europe’s Populist Right Threatens to Erode Climate Consensus

4876

I’m not quite to the point where I think near-term collapse is inevitable, but I have certainly been feeling the last few years like I’ve been living in a twilight zone episode. For instance, recently I met with a financial adviser about the trajectory I am on for retirement savings. Good news - I am in pretty reasonable shape financially! They could even tell me how much savings I will have when I am 95 if I put a certain amount away each year. By convention, this is the grownup, reasonable thing to do and to worry about.

But it feels completely absurd to project out these constant rates of return more than 50 years into the future as if we aren’t staring the abyss in the face right now. Somehow making sure I have enough to buy a hamburger in 50 years is real and important but wrecking the basic physical processes we depend on to survive in that time frame is all theoretical and crazy-talk.

4877

I’ve been feeling exactly the same thing. Wondering if I should be hoarding stone knives and bearskins instead of money. Or maybe quatloos.

4878

Bottle caps. And scraps of metal and leather straps. For the construction of weapons and ammo.

4879

I think one thing people tend to overlook is the importance of Pogs and Beanie Babies to the post collapse economy. Okay, that’s two things but the point is, it’s important to diversify your portfolio

4880

Lots of dog and cat food.

4881

If the Mad Max game taught me anything, it’s that body cavities filled with maggots are a great food source.

4882

Either that, or lots of dogs and cats. (I kid here, of course–though dogs would make great protection).

4883

4884

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4885

Some good news for a Tuesday.

4886

Yay!

(Reads news)

Oh. Sarcasm.

4887

Look at the bright side. Add Environment to Climate Change, and you get 100.

4888

Fucking Republican scaremongering. We’re facing a potentially catastrophic scenario in climate change, but people are absolutely shitting themselves over terrorism instead. Way to go, America.

4889

Environment is quite a bit higher up; it’s just not a global focus. You can also teach about climate change via Education although there are plenty of debates, still over what educating the public, students, actually means.

4890

There’s also the time element. This isn’t an issue we can kick back and develop some solid curriculum for 3rd graders about so that they’ll be prepared to deal with it when they’re 30. It’s sort of hit the point of “issue we’re already too late to stop from coming awful in our lifetime, but maybe we still can save civilization if we start five minutes ago.”

Which is why I maintain my carefully cultivated posture of “people are too fucking dumb and selfish to deserve to survive this impending doom; what is the point of hope?”

4891

There probably hasn’t been a generation alive that didn’t experience a sense of hopelessness. Whether it was genocide, loved ones being shoved in ovens, watching others being thrown over the side of ships to drown and die, uncontrolled disease or the constant threat of nuclear war… you don’t give up hope because doing so is unthinkable.

Also, I was thinking more in colleges than kindergarten. I think the the young push environmental issues a little higher, and while trying to keep the local river clean isn’t a global change it is an awareness that can be used to encourage global understanding and change.

4892

I resemble this remark to an extent, but I’d modify the end as “…what is the point of hoping people will change? Let’s instead pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster that technological advances and societal changes forced by widespread misery will let the human race survive in the new reality.”

4893

Like a range where they can shoot at radroaches with their new BB gun?

4894

Here’s a bill for the current Congress. It died last session. Not that it has any chance of passage but we need to start somewhere. You can google the bill if you want to read the actual language (warning, that’s a bit of a chore.) The downside is this bill prohibits EPA from regulating carbon emissions for 10 years.

Letters and emails aren’t as effective as calling but the link below makes it a one click effort (fwiw my representatives - all Democrats - always respond to email in some form or fashion.)

Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act

The Bipartisan Climate Solution

H.R. 763
https://citizensclimatelobby.org/energy-innovation-and-carbon-dividend-act/