Embracing Hope: Innovations and Perspectives on Climate Change

TFD – Dive into the world of climate change innovations and hopeful perspectives on addressing the climate crisis. Join TheFoxDaily for a journey toward a sustainable future.

Despite the fact that many Americans and policy experts view climate change as the most important existential issue of our time, it often feels like a minor topic in American politics, with the majority of discussions centered around the economy, immigration, and democracy.

According to Bill Weir, top climate correspondent for CNN, all of those issues are ultimately touched by the climate crisis. On April 16, he will release his latest book, “Life As We Know It (Can Be): Stories of People, Climate, and Hope in a Changing World.” We spoke over the phone about his recent visit to Massachusetts, where some landowners who own oceanfront properties and want the state to do more to prevent erosion and sea level rise also reject that there is a climate crisis.

The following is an edited version of my interaction with Weir:

The hope of innovation vs the gloomy reality

WOLF: Every day, you are on the ground reporting on the climate problem. How far has that gotten you lately?

WEIR: At both extremes of the range. It’s the sobering truth of what is happening, and we are also preparing a program on innovation.

The last time I was there, the residents of Salisbury, Massachusetts, which is bordered by New Hampshire, had been witnessing the rising high tide for generations. Erosion is speeding up in tandem with sea level rise, much like it is along the Atlantic coast.

Consequently, this year more than a hundred landowners united and invested $600,000 on fifteen thousand tons of sand to protect their coastal residences from storms and increasing sea levels. That used to last them three or four years, but the majority of it went away in a single day after they had yet another unusual storm and high tide.

People are addressing the five phases of climate grieving in different ways. They are desperate for the state to intervene.

Some of my neighbors reject the existence of climate science and insist that the current unlucky sequence of calamities is merely a coincidence. Others are beginning to accept the notion and the scientific warnings that Massachusetts is officially preparing for a sea level rise of a few feet above the levels of the year 2000 within the next ten or so years.

This was an interesting case study on the psychology of it, showing how those who are most committed to preserving the status quo are also the ones who are best prepared to deal with the impending changes.

And on the other extreme of the range?

WEIR: I visited with a few inspirational developers when I was in Florida. One of them is former NFL player Syd Kitson, who constructed America’s first solar-powered community. Florida is known as Babcock Ranch.

A few miles away, when everything was submerged under water and darkness, I was riding out Hurricane Ian. However, due of his plans and innovations, they never had flooding or power outages, which has caused a sharp increase in the demand for Babcock Ranch real estate. He’s constructing them as quickly as possible.

As a result, I’m examining how the climate issue is currently affecting neighborhoods and projecting future trends in energy, food, and building materials. Everything is evolving at a very rapid pace—an industrial revolution that is mostly unnoticed.

Buffalo is home to climate refugees from Puerto Rico

WOLF: You recently covered Buffalo as a destination for refugees fleeing climate change. It strikes me as intriguing that while you are discussing ways to prepare Florida for climate change, you are also considering potential relocation sites for those displaced by the changing environment. Given how long people have been migrating to the Sunbelt, how far off is the horizon when we start to see people genuinely moving away from it?

WEIR: There are several intriguing aspects to this subject. Due to the presence of a Puerto Rican population in Buffalo, 3,000 of the 5,000 persons who were forced to flee Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria decided to stay.

The city accepted that. These Rust Belt cities need people to come back to life, and Niagara Falls provides a plenty of clean energy and fresh water. They have thus proclaimed themselves to be a climate haven. For them, the attitude toward migration matters more than the latitude.

Simultaneously, solar and wind energy are the least expensive sources of energy for the first time in human history. Thus, the wind belts—the Texas high plains—and the sun belts—now to be called the solar belts—will serve as a major draw for large-scale manufacturing that requires a lot of abundant energy.

Texas is currently the leader in the country for sustainable energy only on the basis of economics, not politics or ideology. Vibrant red As of right now, Texas is the greenest state. The economics and math involved will alter the landscape of what draws businesses, and consequently, what draws employees.

But in the end, the heat will prevail. The northern latitudes get increasingly appealing as the planet’s belly gets increasingly unbearable.

For retirees, Alaska might become the new Florida. Up there, it will be even wetter. But the band of the United States from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, across the Great Lakes is a refuge that is best positioned for that.

The UN estimates that abrupt, unnatural calamities will drive tens of millions of people to flee their country. What’s going on at the border is visible right now. Furthermore, you can simply wait for the Central American droughts to worsen. There will be more tension.

Politics being removed from climate change

WOLF: It’s interesting that you bring up Texas, as it appears that the state’s Republican-dominated legislature and governor would be against taking any specific action related to climate change. Nonetheless, people appear more sensitive to the capitalist impulse when it exists. Joe Biden has attempted to argue that combating climate change ought help spur economic growth. Do you believe that people may still be taking action to address climate change even if they are unable to acknowledge its existence?

WEIR: Definitely, yes. I don’t get to convey the narrative of this incredible surge in clean energy, clean water, and renewable energy sources nearly enough.

According to the most current data, for every dollar allocated by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, private investment has pursued five and a half dollars.

In addition, there are other industries that are expanding at extremely high rates but aren’t getting enough attention, such geothermal energy, carbon removal, thermal storage, storing clean energy in large containers filled with hot rocks, and applying pressure to turn the earth into a battery.

The United States is the largest petrostate in human history at the same moment. Compared to Donald Trump, Joe Biden has exported a lot more fossil fuels. This significant increase in fracked natural gas is the cause of it. That is a major bone of contention for his base’s environmental wing.

The key question is how much of the old, filthy energy is replaced by this new boom in energy, or if humankind is simply insatiably voracious and never limits its desire.

It’s not a political discussion in places like Charleston, South Carolina, where a billion-dollar seawall is being built and residents are raising their century-old homes on the Battery. It’s the truth. You are staring directly at the laws of physics.

Several others, like Matt Yglesias, have suggested that we shouldn’t discuss climate change at all. Because the typical person is not particularly motivated to engage in daily, genuine activity.

Regardless of politics, efficiency is increasing.

WOLF: That is something that has crossed my mind in relation to electric cars. Apparently, some are put off by them because purchasing an electric vehicle (EV) is more of a political statement than just shopping around for the cheapest price.

WEIR: I believe that what’s happening right now is that the market has suddenly saturated, causing a surplus or oversupply as well as a backlash.

These occurrences come in spurts. The offshore wind was really thrilling. It then encountered supply chain issues and inflation challenges. EVs made a statement and were innovative. There is currently a tyranny of choice. There’s so many different models and sorting out all the incentives is still not easy.

In the same way that there came a point at which I didn’t think humans would ever return to the internal combustion engine, I also believe that we have passed that threshold as a species. Simply put, it makes more sense.

I believe that the ultimate outcome of all this is to electrify everything. All that matters is how quickly it happens.

Take a look at these S-shaped historical curves of adaption, such as the one for the refrigerator, which went from being in 10% of houses to 95% in a relatively short period of time, and the color television. Similar experiences with solar and battery storage, as well as heat pumps, have been seen. Regardless of politics, a significant wave of efficiency and greener, more sustainable options is on the horizon.

You’ve passed the most stylish years of your life.

WOLF: According to a CNN article, this winter was the warmest on record and for some days in February, the planet’s temperature exceeded pre-industrial levels by more than 2 degrees. The 2-degree tipping threshold, which was originally proposed as the tipping point for climate change, appears to be imminent. Which marker comes next?

WEIR: The most difficult concept for most people to understand—I find it difficult to understand even though I spend my days in this area—is that the record-breaking year we recently experienced wasn’t only the hottest in roughly 120,000 years. Among the best years of the rest of our lives are these ones.

And there has been no meaningful reduction in emissions. The world thermostat is still fully adjusted by a human hand. And until that changes, until the atmosphere stabilizes at a certain rate, it’s just going to keep getting warmer.

The most alarming information is that, for the past year, ocean temperatures have surpassed all previous records on a daily basis. This is something we cannot see and is far more difficult to quantify and explain.

Every day that appears on the calendar is the hottest one that we have ever observed. Scientists are quite concerned about what this means for marine ecosystems and coral reefs, which are the cradles of marine life, as well as for the power of storms as we approach hurricane season.

Everyday existence evolves

WOLF: What small acts ought people to be taking part in? Nobody is really requesting, in my opinion, that individuals quit traveling altogether. You journey to report these tales. How does the weather affect your day-to-day activities?

WEIR: You view the world in a different light when you take on this beat. When I saw an ice cream truck, I used to just smile. I can now see the generator emitting smoke. I consider the sugarcane fields that burn in order to produce sweet delights. When you get right down to it, everything has a price.

I do consider the impact of my flights, and for many years I have tried to offset my air miles with approved sustainable energy projects or charitable donations.

But we are unable to solve this issue by offsetting. We need to build our homes, find food, and manufacture clothing in far more economical and practical ways. We also need to figure out how to fly responsibly.

I try my best when it comes to the personal responsibility portion. It’s been a few years since I owned a car. I enjoy riding a bike, but I’m thrilled to have logged nearly 4,000 miles on Citi Bikes, the city’s bike-share program. I just loved that method of traveling around New York City; I’m not doing that to make a statement like Captain Planet. I doubt it would work if I lived in Chicago or Dallas.

Individual decisions are significant because they reflect our growing understanding of the issues surrounding the contaminants in our water and air, the impact of our energy mix on life as we know it today, and the implications for future generations.

It matters what each individual decides to do with that, but discussing it is crucial. Certainly allowing it to influence the decisions you make as a voter and customer. But also realizing that the decision-makers who work in C-suites of the biggest petrochemical companies, the biggest fossil fuel legacy companies in the world – you could fit all of them in a couple of Greyhound buses.

Governments are currently subsidizing fossil fuels. Companies are being paid by them to uncork the Godzilla that is drastically altering the weather. Consequently, as a customer, all you can do is be informed and raise the issue until major systems change.

It is called “pluralistic ignorance” when someone doesn’t recognize they are not alone.

WOLF: That is somewhat disheartening. What have I overlooked?

WEIR: I would want to draw attention to a few points. Regardless of political affiliation, the average American response in 2022 to a question on the proportion of their fellow citizens who both comprehend the severity of the climate crisis and support significant action ranged from 33% to 40%. It is actually closer to 66% to 80%.

The authors of the paper call it “pluralistic ignorance.” If you care about an Earth in balance, you think you’re outnumbered two to one, when the opposite is true.

People have allies all around them that they are unaware of. People also underestimate the speed at which systems can adapt when people collaborate and the speed at which nature can mend itself given the right circumstances.

In addition to teaching us many valuable lessons, the pandemic accelerated the development of several vaccinations while everyone was working toward the same goal. So there’s plenty of space for hopelessness. However, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic; it all comes down to the narratives we choose to surround this subject.