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This is a ludicrous way to confront #ClimateChange. An organization like @foe_us that claims to treat #climate change as an existential crisis CANNOT be taken seriously while simultaneously counseling us to ignore virtually all low-carbon resources except wind & solar.
Proposition: Anyone who says climate change is a crisis & then says we should tie 1 (or 2) hands behind our backs by setting aside a raft of low-CO2 options, including virtually all crucial firm resources (see bit.ly/FirmLowCarbon) should be treated as non-serious & ignored.
For more on why it is risky and unwise to literally bet the planet on wind and solar alone to decarbonize electricity (while saying no to biomass, biogas, carbon capture, and nuclear power), see: authors.elsevier.com/a/1YFaZ925JE5r…
If #climatechange is a crisis (and I believe it is!), serious #climate champions will throw literally everything we've got at solving it. Anything else does not constitute a commensurate response to this defining generational challenge. Period.
/End serious rant
/End serious rant
ps Im sad that I have to direct this to my longtime friends @350 (@billmckibben @Agent350 @mayboeve et al) @ACEspace (@mattlappe et al) & elsewhere. As someone who has dedicated a decade to studying effective paths to decarbonize energy, this open letter is not a serious proposal
And just so everyone is clear, I completely support calls for rapid decarbonization of the economy. But we need serious proposals to actually get the job done. We confront this crisis with all hands on deck, and that means ANYTHING with low enough life cycle GHG emissions.
The net result will be DRAMATIC improvements in air quality and public health across the country. Saying you will tolerate ZERO combustion or nuclear or CCS means you treat climate as a secondary concern to the other more manageable impacts of these forms of low-CO2 energy.
But you can't honestly say #climatechange is a crisis and then not treat it like the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd priority. And that is not what this letter does. I stand by to work with any of you on this challenge. All the best.
