Thread by @Noahpinion

Today's @bopinion post is about how to beat climate change. Should we overthrow our whole economic system and build a new one? Or can we fix things with one simple tweak?

I say: Neither.

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

Some people think capitalism inherently promotes climate change, and that we can't solve the problem until we get rid of the profit motive.

theintercept.com/2018/08/03/cli…

"Capitalism is killing the planet" has become a popular meme, in online media and on Twitter.

motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/…

Even some folks from the finance industry have expressed the idea that capitalism is the problem.

cnbc.com/2018/06/13/gmo…

Meanwhile, many economists see a carbon tax - a small tweak to the market system - as the main way to fight climate change.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

But while a carbon tax is good, it won't solve the problem. Much sterner measures are needed.
nymag.com/intelligencer/…

So do we go with eco-socialism?

Dismantle the capitalist system and replace it with something else?

I say: No.

Reason #1: Political upheaval and turmoil is unlikely to help the climate.

Reason #2: Socialist countries, especially developing countries, also want to improve living standards for their people. Right now, that means burning more fossil fuels.

https://twitter.com/Noahpinion/status/1113188295658184704

As long as there's a stark trade-off between raising living standards and saving the planet, it doesn't matter what economic ideology we follow; the planet is probably screwed.

That is why Job #1 is weakening the tradeoff between living standards and environmental protection.

And that means TECHNOLOGY.

Here's a really good climate technology plan from @ramez. You should read it:
techcrunch.com/2019/02/15/how…

And here is a Green New Deal plan by @gregorytcarlock and the folks at @DataProgress. It has a lot of emphasis on technology, which is great:
dataforprogress.org/green-new-deal

This approach isn't theoretical. It is having success right now, in the energy and transportation sectors.

First solar power, now batteries, have plunged in cost. This has been game-changing.

about.bnef.com/blog/battery-p…

So far, solar, wind and batteries have fallen in price enough to displace *new* fossil fuel plants.

When they fall a bit more, they'll start to displace *old* fossil fuel plants. That's when the transformation accelerates sharply.

rameznaam.com/2019/04/02/the…

Already a few places in the U.S. are scrapping their existing coal and gas plants, and replacing them with solar and wind.

arstechnica.com/information-te…

Here's another example!
utilitydive.com/news/even-in-i…

And how were these advancements achieved?

This paper sheds some light on the subject:
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

In the 80s and 90s, government-funded R&D was the biggest factor driving down solar module costs.

In the 2000s and 2010s, it has been scaling. Companies (encouraged by govt. subsidies!) built more solar and learned how to do it cheaper.

The success of solar shows the way forward: Government and private companies each doing their part to create, improve, implement and spread the technologies that reduce or eliminate the tradeoff between living standards and climate protection.

Call it eco-industrialism.

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