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Peter Kalmus Profile picture
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Jul 29 • 3 tweets • 1 min read
One top-line thing the new climate policy strongly suggests: If we spent even half of what we spend on the military, and avoided adding in concessions to the fossil fuel industry, we could eliminate most US climate emissions in a matter of years, not decades.
The new policy earmarks $369 billion over 10 years. If it passes, this will be the biggest climate package in US history, but it still only amounts to 4.6% of US military spending, and it includes significant concessions to the fossil fuel industry (more on this soon).
I believe that if we treated climate breakdown as the emergency it truly is, we'd halt it faster than anyone can imagine. As a society, we are barely even trying yet. Let's try for real and see what happens! #EmergencyMode

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More from @ClimateHuman

Peter Kalmus Profile picture
Jul 29
Here are some thoughts on the pros and cons of the new climate deal.🧵

Keep in mind that the main cause of climate breakdown is burning fossil fuel, so to stop the irreversible damage we need to ramp down the fossil fuel industry. The faster we do this, the more we'll save.
1. The deal earmarks $369 billion over 10 years for climate and energy measures. If passed, this will be far more than congress has ever done on climate. But... it will be the ONLY thing congress has ever done on climate, so that's not even a low bar, it's no bar at all.
For perspective, $369 billion over 10 years is a remarkably small amount to spend given the stakes: a livable planet. The US spends about $800 billion per year on the military. $36.9 billion per year is 4.6% of military spending...

Spending = priorities, and this is madness.
Read 20 tweets
Peter Kalmus Profile picture
Jul 27
Surprise climate deal - $369 billion over 10 years for "energy climate programs," financed by taxes on the rich (great). We need details on those programs (will they be for fossil gas and other boondoggles?), and also to recognize this is still just 4.6% of the military budget
From The Guardian: Manchin offered few specifics about the package but noted it “invests in the technologies needed for all fuel types – from hydrogen, nuclear, renewables, fossil fuels and energy storage” and that it “does not arbitrarily shut off our abundant fossil fuels”.
p.s. I still despise Manchin. This small concession (and possibly non-concession, time will tell) does not change the fact that he is rich from coal and blocks climate action for the world
Read 5 tweets
Peter Kalmus Profile picture
Jul 27
As a former astrophysicist and current Earth scientist, here are a few reasons Mars sucks 🧵
1. No breathable air. I like breathable air
2. It's colder than Antarctica. Way colder. It's ridiculously cold.
Read 10 tweets
Peter Kalmus Profile picture
Jul 18
If you care about a livable Earth stop flying, stop eating meat, start doing climate civil disobedience
I am more aware than almost anyone that individual actions alone won't solve climate breakdown. This is why climate civil disobedience is so crucial. But while this is true, it's also true that if you care about a livable Earth, it's good to stop flying and eating meat.
Starting in 2010, I spent two years radically reducing my emissions as an experiment; at that time I had no platform and I didn't know what else to do. I genuinely enjoyed the process, and I hoped it might "catch." It did not, and became clear as day that it's not enough.
Read 4 tweets
Peter Kalmus Profile picture
Jul 11
There are so many things to fight right now. But the one that has the potential to kill the most of us by far, and the most life on Earth, is global heating. It's also irreversible. It's caused mainly by the fossil fuel industry. So we must end the fossil fuel industry.
It's not "too late." The sooner we end the fossil fuel industry, the more we save and the fewer people will die. The longer it lasts (and it's doing everything it can to spread lies and delay action) the more we lose, and the more people will die.
I personally try to burn as little fossil fuel as possible, because I hate knowing that my fossil fuel use contributes to global heating and death here on Earth (it just does, no matter how we wish it didn't). But obviously we need to change our entire energy system.
Read 4 tweets
Peter Kalmus Profile picture
Jul 1
BREAKING: Biden announces plans to expand oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska the day after the devastating supreme court decision on climate, and despite clear warnings from the world's climate scientists that fossil fuel expansion must end immediately.
In my opinion, Biden has missed a clear and historic opportunity provided by the invasion of Ukraine to use his bully pulpit and the considerable powers of his office to rapidly pivot our energy economy away from fossil fuels and toward renewables.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
One striking aspect here is Joe Manchin's remarkable denialist comment: “Our leasing programs are a critical component of American energy security. I hope the administration will ultimately greenlight a plan that will expand domestic energy production.”
nytimes.com/2022/07/01/cli…
Read 6 tweets

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