However, this time it is different for the subtitle of the essay translated from German reads like the glad tidings of the gospel," Why the climate disaster will not come. A plea for a new eco-realism." And Professor Daniel Dettling of the Zukunftsinstitut in Frankfurt continues with Apostle Matthew 8:26, "And he said to them, Why are you full of fear, O you of little faith?"
The German word of the year 2018 with the never-ending European summer was "Heißzeit (Hot times)." This reminds us that despite and beyond populism, xenophobia, shitstorms against everything and everyone, and data theft, there is still something that unites us all: We live together on a heating-up planet.
Climate change exceeds our imagination and, at the same time, touches on archaic patterns of perception of guilt, atonement, and punishment leading to a spiral of fear and hysteria that either discharges into cynicism or into a seemingly artificial rescuer pose.
It is easy for demagogues to deny climate change as manmade, while a vast majority find optimism difficult, for it is too late anyway. German angst tends to exaggerate the issue, so it is no coincidence that a German, Roland Emmerich, brought climate change to the Hollywood screen as an apocalypse when he shot "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012."
But there is hope as climate change is synchronized with people's minds: the vast majority wants more climate protection. Dettling continues: Still, one unifying element is missing: optimism for action coupled with the desire for a better quality of life and not the penalty of renunciation. So the energy question should not be seen as a battle for scarcer resources but rather as a project for technical progress by unleashing the forces of nature.
ENERGY
With a share of renewable energies in the electricity mix reaching a record of 40%, Germany met a milestone last year. Due to governmental funding, millions of houses in Germany are miniature power plants today. Sure, for many, a solar panel on the roof just means a lower electricity bill, but more important is that living in such a house creates an entirely different relationship with the environment. The aim is to distribute, store, and network these renewable energies correctly, and isn't "networking" mainstream these days?
And there is new political energy, too, with the Greens having the wind in their sails. Seeing their future jeopardized, young people shouting "Fridays for Future "all over the world unite for massive protests against apparently climate-lazy governments.
TRANSPORT
In urban areas, traffic is responsible for 70% of CO2 emissions. Lately, a discussion broke loose about the NOx output from diesel engines. Newer worries are about concentrations of fine dust, i.e., particulate matter in urban agglomerations. Although the City of London has practically banned individual traffic, its mayor still describes the situation in drastic terms, "The air in London is a killer." Poor air quality presents the population's most significant environmental and health risk.
CO2 production goes hand in hand with air pollution. And here, the people in China suffer massively and painfully. The People's Republic is still burning almost half of all coal worldwide, but by 2050 the country wants to be the leader in green electricity. Chinese leaders have understood that the energy revolution will protect its population, so their evolution of renewable energy is fast. It even goes so far that the government is paying a premium of 12.000 U$ for acquiring an electric car.
The preferred public transport is the rail using electricity from renewable energy sources. Also, electric trains contribute although small amounts of fine dust. It is sad but true that Germany will largely miss its mark of a 30% reduction of CO2 in the transport sector until 2020. What are the solutions? Free public transport is frequently proposed as the method of choice to turn people away from using their private cars.
Since the end of 2017, buses have been free of charge at the university city of Tübingen on Saturdays. This pilot project increased the number of passengers by 20%, but two problems are linked to free public transport: financing and an overload on the existing transport systems. Any subsidizing of public transport will require new revenues (taxes?). Germany's current local and long-distance rail systems are already running at their capacity limit, so new lines must be constructed.
NUTRITION
Although the Earth has exceeded 7.5 billion people, all can be fed today. The fact is that worldwide, more people suffer from over-nourishment than malnutrition. The most significant climate sinners are sugar, meat, and cheap fat. In affluent societies, too many calories are produced, of which too many are simply spoiled and wasted. So we don't need to intensify agriculture further but rather require intelligent solutions that will serve people, the soil, and the climate. The trend for organic food is picking up momentum, with meat consumption in the States declining. Red Baron belongs to a group of people called "flexitarian," i.e., once in a while, a piece of meat or even better fish but otherwise, milk products to satisfy the body's need for protein.
In the end, countries that we today condemn - in soothing our conscience about our own "climate" behavior - as climate sinners will decisively advance the great turning point. China and India are on the way to becoming green superpowers. And although POTUS withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, efforts to save our blue planet continue and are intensified in the States on the state and local levels.
Professor Detling ends his article on a positive note, "We are witnessing a process in which personal behavior, technology, and politics are gradually synchronized towards a positive outcome. So let us venture a forecast: the 'carbon peak,' the peak of global CO2 emissions, will already be reached in ten years. By 2050, the word "climate catastrophe" will have disappeared from public vocabulary. It will be warmer on the planet, but not necessarily permanently catastrophic ... the post-fossil remediation of our planet needs a social majority with a positive attitude to the future, bringing together the things that really belong together. Ecology and economy. Technology and nature. Progress and beauty. That's possible. Wanna bet?"
It is easy for demagogues to deny climate change as manmade, while a vast majority find optimism difficult, for it is too late anyway. German angst tends to exaggerate the issue, so it is no coincidence that a German, Roland Emmerich, brought climate change to the Hollywood screen as an apocalypse when he shot "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012."
But there is hope as climate change is synchronized with people's minds: the vast majority wants more climate protection. Dettling continues: Still, one unifying element is missing: optimism for action coupled with the desire for a better quality of life and not the penalty of renunciation. So the energy question should not be seen as a battle for scarcer resources but rather as a project for technical progress by unleashing the forces of nature.
ENERGY
With a share of renewable energies in the electricity mix reaching a record of 40%, Germany met a milestone last year. Due to governmental funding, millions of houses in Germany are miniature power plants today. Sure, for many, a solar panel on the roof just means a lower electricity bill, but more important is that living in such a house creates an entirely different relationship with the environment. The aim is to distribute, store, and network these renewable energies correctly, and isn't "networking" mainstream these days?
And there is new political energy, too, with the Greens having the wind in their sails. Seeing their future jeopardized, young people shouting "Fridays for Future "all over the world unite for massive protests against apparently climate-lazy governments.
TRANSPORT
In urban areas, traffic is responsible for 70% of CO2 emissions. Lately, a discussion broke loose about the NOx output from diesel engines. Newer worries are about concentrations of fine dust, i.e., particulate matter in urban agglomerations. Although the City of London has practically banned individual traffic, its mayor still describes the situation in drastic terms, "The air in London is a killer." Poor air quality presents the population's most significant environmental and health risk.
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| CO2 emissions: China has a long way to go |
The preferred public transport is the rail using electricity from renewable energy sources. Also, electric trains contribute although small amounts of fine dust. It is sad but true that Germany will largely miss its mark of a 30% reduction of CO2 in the transport sector until 2020. What are the solutions? Free public transport is frequently proposed as the method of choice to turn people away from using their private cars.
Since the end of 2017, buses have been free of charge at the university city of Tübingen on Saturdays. This pilot project increased the number of passengers by 20%, but two problems are linked to free public transport: financing and an overload on the existing transport systems. Any subsidizing of public transport will require new revenues (taxes?). Germany's current local and long-distance rail systems are already running at their capacity limit, so new lines must be constructed.
NUTRITION
Although the Earth has exceeded 7.5 billion people, all can be fed today. The fact is that worldwide, more people suffer from over-nourishment than malnutrition. The most significant climate sinners are sugar, meat, and cheap fat. In affluent societies, too many calories are produced, of which too many are simply spoiled and wasted. So we don't need to intensify agriculture further but rather require intelligent solutions that will serve people, the soil, and the climate. The trend for organic food is picking up momentum, with meat consumption in the States declining. Red Baron belongs to a group of people called "flexitarian," i.e., once in a while, a piece of meat or even better fish but otherwise, milk products to satisfy the body's need for protein.
In the end, countries that we today condemn - in soothing our conscience about our own "climate" behavior - as climate sinners will decisively advance the great turning point. China and India are on the way to becoming green superpowers. And although POTUS withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, efforts to save our blue planet continue and are intensified in the States on the state and local levels.
Professor Detling ends his article on a positive note, "We are witnessing a process in which personal behavior, technology, and politics are gradually synchronized towards a positive outcome. So let us venture a forecast: the 'carbon peak,' the peak of global CO2 emissions, will already be reached in ten years. By 2050, the word "climate catastrophe" will have disappeared from public vocabulary. It will be warmer on the planet, but not necessarily permanently catastrophic ... the post-fossil remediation of our planet needs a social majority with a positive attitude to the future, bringing together the things that really belong together. Ecology and economy. Technology and nature. Progress and beauty. That's possible. Wanna bet?"
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