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If climate change isn’t real, there’s no good reason for us to cause the unemployment, crime, and suicides that will result from dismantling the main industry o

If climate change isn’t real, there’s no good reason for us to cause the unemployment, crime, and suicides that will result from dismantling the main industry of America’s 4th largest city (Houston).

vilmosi 9y ago
Yes, there is. >>> cleaner, healthier and quieter environment to live in
VikingCoder 9y ago
That's inevitable. Will it be replaced by nuclear or solar is basically the only question.
- tdb7893 9y ago
  Nuclear has been around for a long time and has never caught on. Barring large changes in public opinion or price it's probably on the way out, too
- afarrell 9y ago
  Unless we can mine enough lithium to make grid-scale battery farms viable or can make large-scale flywheels work, both forms have issues with demand response that are currently being solved by natural gas.
  - VikingCoder 9y ago
    Or we use electricity to make gas, and then burn the gas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-to-gas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-to-gas
anigbrowl 9y ago
Hmm, the health of the whole planet vs. one large city with an insufficiently diverse economy? Decades' worth of empirical evidence and analysis from thousands of scientists filling thousands of pages vs. hand-waving predictions of economic doom? I agree that dismantling the fossil fuel industry would result in some economic dislocation, but it really feels like the advocates of that position expect to have their worries just taken at face value, while simultaneously expecting everyone to ignore the lamentable record of the fossil fuel industry in both pollution and obfuscation. I'm sorry, but I'm running increasingly low on patience for people who work in this sector. Yesterday I was reading that coal miners who are being offered free training to transfer out of the coal industry are choosing to study coal mining technology in the belief that a coal resurgence is going to happen any day now. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-effect-coal-retraining-insight/awaiting-trumps-coal-comeback-miners-reject-retraining-idUSKBN1D14G0 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-effect-coal-retrain... I'm strongly in favor of policies that would mitigate or alleviate such people's economic problems, but not in favor of propping up an industry that's putting everyone's health at risk.

vilmosi 9y ago

Yes, there is. >>> cleaner, healthier and quieter environment to live in

VikingCoder 9y ago

That's inevitable. Will it be replaced by nuclear or solar is basically the only question.

tdb7893 9y ago
Nuclear has been around for a long time and has never caught on. Barring large changes in public opinion or price it's probably on the way out, too
afarrell 9y ago
Unless we can mine enough lithium to make grid-scale battery farms viable or can make large-scale flywheels work, both forms have issues with demand response that are currently being solved by natural gas.
- VikingCoder 9y ago
  Or we use electricity to make gas, and then burn the gas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-to-gas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-to-gas

anigbrowl 9y ago

Hmm, the health of the whole planet vs. one large city with an insufficiently diverse economy? Decades' worth of empirical evidence and analysis from thousands of scientists filling thousands of pages vs. hand-waving predictions of economic doom? I agree that dismantling the fossil fuel industry would result in some economic dislocation, but it really feels like the advocates of that position expect to have their worries just taken at face value, while simultaneously expecting everyone to ignore the lamentable record of the fossil fuel industry in both pollution and obfuscation. I'm sorry, but I'm running increasingly low on patience for people who work in this sector. Yesterday I was reading that coal miners who are being offered free training to transfer out of the coal industry are choosing to study coal mining technology in the belief that a coal resurgence is going to happen any day now. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-effect-coal-retraining-insight/awaiting-trumps-coal-comeback-miners-reject-retraining-idUSKBN1D14G0 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-effect-coal-retrain... I'm strongly in favor of policies that would mitigate or alleviate such people's economic problems, but not in favor of propping up an industry that's putting everyone's health at risk.