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Guest opinion: 'Cultural antibodies' to help fight climate change

Original post made on Apr 25, 2020

In an op-ed, Mountain View resident Fausto D'Apuzzo and Portola Valley resident Lanier Poland argue why, amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the world has never been better poised to tackle the climate crisis.

Read the full story here Web Link posted Saturday, April 25, 2020, 8:48 AM

Comments (9)

Posted by Gary
a resident of Sylvan Park
on Apr 25, 2020 at 10:53 am

Very thoughtful and well written. When businesses and government act to maximize profit and protect vested special interests, the environment and the well-being of humans tend to be sacrificed. Even in the current viral pandemic, the rich are angling to get richer and more powerful. At the start of the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918, there were about 2 trillion humans. In three waves, that pandemic infected a third of humanity and kill over 50 million. Oblivious to the environment, the world population has grown to almost 8 billion. Corporations and many governments treat humans as a replaceable resource. Hence the term "human resources." And most humans work for neither. They are largely slaves with few choices - living in poverty and desperation. The mainstream press keeps quiet. The USA cannot single-handedly save the planet or significantly reduce the plight of humankind - especially beyond our national borders. But a better nation and world will surely require new political officeholders who will place the health of the planet and the well-being of Americans and other humans above the profit and power of existing special interests.


Posted by Interesting, NOT!
a resident of Bailey Park
on Apr 25, 2020 at 2:14 pm

What we have in common with the C-19 models and the climate change models, put garbage in and you get garbage out.

Both models continue to be wrong, yet there is no accountability in that, only excuses and attack those that point it out.


Posted by salud!
a resident of Monta Loma
on Apr 25, 2020 at 3:13 pm

> Both models continue to be wrong, yet there is no accountability in that, only excuses and attack those that point it out.

Yet it is the Deniers that continually fail to offer a solution, or even acknowledge the severity of the problem.

@interesting: care to share with us the 10 hottest years in recorded history?


Posted by The Business Man
a resident of Castro City
on Apr 25, 2020 at 3:30 pm

WE HAVE TO GET IN REVERSE GEAR NOW REGARDING REMOVAL OF STAY AT HOME!

Friday the WHO proved that being positive for ANTIBODIES of COVID 19 is NOT PROTECTION against REINFECTION.

And look at all the money now WASTED on the development of the ANTIBODY tests. Now that they do not provide protection against REINFECTION.

What this prove unfortunately is that COVID 19 has a short MUTATION perion, meaning it changes rather rapidly. The REAL problem with that is one infection and one VERSION (version 1.0) of ANTIBODIES do not necessarily work on VERSION (version 2.0).

Now if it mutates the GOOD way, it is lesser deadly, but it also can become a worse dangerous version.


THIS MAY FORCE STATES LIKE GEORGIA TO REVERSE COURSE.

BOY ARE WE ALL IN A SERIOUS SITUATION.


Posted by Jeff
a resident of North Whisman
on Apr 25, 2020 at 4:57 pm

Good luck passing a carbon tax at a time when the global economy is in the toilet. Fighting climate change is a laudable goal but politicians won't go for it now.


Posted by K Nordman
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Apr 25, 2020 at 8:28 pm

The carbon tax and dividend doesn't cost much money but has a huge impact on gradually moving the world to a more sustainable future. It only correct a huge failure in pricing fossil fuels where they pass huge hidden costs in pollution, climate degradation, environmental damage and huge health cost for us to pay for. Studies show we can significantly lessen climate change damage with a carbon tax with no change in GDP but a huge improvement in health of our planet. The WTO estimated the subsities for fossil fuels was $5.1 Trillion in 2015. We need to stop subsidizing something that is killing our planet.


Posted by Dublin Galyean
a resident of another community
on Apr 26, 2020 at 5:40 pm

I doubt that even the Citizen’s Climate Lobby volunteers who authored “Cultural antibodies' to help fight climate change” (4/25/20) would dispute that HR763 is the ONLY way to mitigate the devastating effects of continuing to rely on fossil fuels to power our economy, but the irony is that Economists and Climate Change: Consensus and Open Questions describes and analyzes the results of a survey sent to 289 economic experts on climate change” which “selected from authors of research published in one of the top twenty-five economic journals” and found that “84% of the respondents to the poll said that the effects of global warming will create significant risks to important sectors of the United States and global economies. There was near unanimity—98%—that a price on carbon will increase incentives for efficiency and innovation.” (Web Link

HR763 is already in Congress with over 80 co-sponsors. Isn’t it worth trying so we don’t suffer any more from the carbon-demic of rising sea levels and superheated land?



Posted by Jessie Henshaw
a resident of another community
on Apr 27, 2020 at 8:24 am

It is clear that the public has gotten a real lesson on interpreting exponential curves, and that's very good. I wonder if climate scientists understand exponential curves, though.

The whole purpose of the Paris Accord seems to find a technical fix hoping to make the earth safe for endless exponential economic growth. That is dreamy thinking.

We simply can't substitute ever-doubling renewable energy for ever-doubling fossil energy. It's a fool's errand, a waste of our time, an incredible distraction from the real job of making the economy comfortable as one of the ecosystems of the earth.

If interested in my writing see: HTTP://synapse9.com/signals


Posted by salud!
a resident of Monta Loma
on Apr 27, 2020 at 9:20 am

> of making the economy comfortable as one of the ecosystems of the earth

Wow. That's something. Meanwhile:

"2019 Was The 2nd-Hottest Year On Record, According To NASA And NOAA"

Hope you're 'comfortable'. The rest of us aren't.


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