Watch out for Captain Greenwash!

Watch out for Captain Greenwash. He may look like a hero, but sent through the full cycle, he comes out pale green.

If the current approach to our carbon problems turn out to be greenwash, because it looks like a solution but isn’t, then the problem will only get bigger with no long-term gain. We all need to appreciate that carbon stays in the air for centuries and will continue to force the Earth’s temperature up, along with sea level as the oceans get warmer. CO2 emissions are not about to stop and are expected to increase, with an escalating release of carbon from the Earth’s stores in the Arctic permafrost, from dying rainforests and the ocean floor methane hydrates.

If we manage to wake up and act before its too late, we may see that the key solution is to start building solar power stations in space to access the unlimited energy-well of our star where the Sun never sets and the stellar energy is much stronger. Facing the potential of a runaway greenhouse effect, we would have the energy to build our way through dangerous Earth changes, desalinate any volume of ocean water and pump it to where people will need water and energy to survive and keep cool.

With this energy we could also mine carbon from the air and sea as a resource for manufacturing, until CO2 has been reduced to the safety zone below 350 parts per million. At the same time we need to shift to a slow Earth with solar powered electric transport and fleets of airships replacing jets and cargo ships.

With solar power stations in space, much industry would be located beyond Earth and the human settlement of the Solar System could begin. Knowing that we are building a confident survival position beyond Earth, people will be inspired to work for a safe Earth. When a vision of genuine hope is on the table, the people of Earth will respond.

If we are only offering a gamblers gambit, our vision is flawed. Until I see the conversation shift to serious discussion about what must really be done to secure human survival and future creative opportunities, it will be clear that the fiddlers are busy as the Earth burns.

Climate change could have been entirely avoided, if we had drilled up instead of down. Space based solar power has been on the table since 1968. Conversationists turned away from space and sought a healthy Earth and this was a boon for the powerful carbon lobby, which then had the green light to also turn to the Earth for energy and dig ever deeper into our planet’s filthy carbon reserves. It was also a green light to run with nuclear power.

Captain Greenwash is a dangerous champion of the Earth. Politicians love his short-term answers to complex problems that in political hands can deliver votes and power, but in the larger scheme of life, can lead our society into catastrophe.