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The big question with fossil-fuel driven climate change is, who is going to own the oil and coal that gets left in the ground? If we are going to avoid climate
by dzdt 3y ago
The big question with fossil-fuel driven climate change is, who is going to own the oil and coal that gets left in the ground? If we are going to avoid climate catastrophe, large amounts of fossil carbon needs to be left buried. Someone claims ownership over almost all of that; it is very valuable; leaving it buried is like leaving money just sitting there. Who will say, for the good of the Earth, we will leave it there? Or will someone else offer to pay well to leave oil buried?
- wkat4242 3y agoGood question but there could be a licensing system.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago> it is very valuable; leaving it buried is like leaving money just sitting there It's valuable because of the systems we've created around it. Whale oil sits unmolested in the oceans. Meanwhile American coal is becoming a stranded asset amidst falling demand, production and prices [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining_in_the_United_Stat...
- ljf 3y agoThis! When you can run your house and charge your car for free with your own panels and batteries, oil/gas has very limited value to me. We rarely burn peat any more too as another example of a 'valuable resource' that is left in situ rather than collected now.
- timeon 3y agoIt is not like burning it but peat is still harvested and sold for gardening purposes.
- ljf 3y agoVery true - but the value of peat as a heating fuel is now vastly diminished as other more efficient fuels are available for a lower price. I remember peat still being burnt in Shetland when I was young, and compared to coal or even wood it gave off very little heat. There is still plenty of peat to be taken 'for free' as a fuel using traditional methods, but very little is burnt now, as it is easier and cheaper to heat your home, with wood, coal or more likely gas or electricity.
- c7DJTLrn 3y agoStill need oil for plastics and industrial chemical production, both of which are going to be needed for the foreseeable future.
- ljf 3y agoYes you would, until there is a cheaper alternative - which in time I'd hazard a guess that there will be.