Our pace of innovation comes at a heavy cost. The price of innovating new technologies has led to extensive environmental harm in the past few decades alone. So how can we come together and answer the climate emergency before it’s too late?
Mark Jaccard has a keen focus on energy efficiency and systems. His work is dedicated to discovering how they should be used and engineered for our future. In this episode, Alexander McCaig discusses climate stability in the backdrop of Mark’s book, entitled The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Success.
Awareness encourages political action. Policies that mitigate the emission of greenhouse gasses, for example, are going to be crucial in saving the environment. Mark Jaccard believes that this phenomenon is already happening in developed areas, such as Canada, the United States, and Europe.
What’s important to consider is that we don’t have to make everybody agree. As Mark points out, the world has successfully acted on ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). While not everybody understood the full breadth of the problem, the governments of developed countries were prepared to act.
However, Mark also believes that making climate stability a priority in developing countries will be one of the world’s most pressing issues. This is because while CFCs are mostly generated in developed countries, the bigger problem is in developing areas where inferior refrigeration technologies cause more harm to the environment.
In addition, the level of awareness is much lower. It’s not just because of lower levels of education. The reality is also that people in developing areas have very different priorities. It’s difficult to tackle long-term and large-scale issues like the environment when your day-to-day welfare is constantly challenged.
To effectively tackle the climate change issue, we need to address several realities. First, greenhouse gas emissions will continue to grow and will be especially prevalent in the developing world. Second, energy use on the planet will increase.
Mark believes that preventing the worst of climate change calls for energy systems that don’t emit CO2, especially in the developing world. This is why, he explains, his book doesn’t just call for individuals to change their behavior. It’s also about how we can hold communities and governments, at large, accountable.
To make this happen, Mark suggests global diplomacy. Tariffs and sanctions will send the message that the climate is a global problem, and you need to be a part of the solution. Since this kind of action takes place between governments, many view this as a top-down approach. However, Mark emphasizes that this approach needs to be paired with an effort to raise awareness on the ground.
In addition, Mark believes that climate stability can be achieved when we refine our approach to fossil fuels. They produce plenty of quality energy (which Mark refers to as “exergy) and as we move away from fossil fuels, we can still use them by converting them into hydrogen and electricity, and capturing the carbon dioxide.
For as long as humans exist, we will indulge in energy-intensive activities that hurt the environment. However, it is possible that as our quality of life improves, so does the rate of energy used per person. Mark points out that this is already occurring in Europe and North America.
Also, we can invest in building additional infrastructures for fossil fuels so that we can still enjoy its high energy quality without harming the environment. This involves technologies that can capture the carbon dioxide out of the smoke stack and bury it underground.
Preserving the environment for the generations after us is not an easy feat. We need to undo (or at least refine) several elements of our society that we’ve grown so used to. For example, we need to think about making cars and air conditioners more energy-efficient and eco-friendly. We need to look at the way we’ve built our cities. We need to make difficult, sometimes expensive lifestyle choices.
And that’s just on an individual level. We also need to think of raising awareness within our community. Lobbying for laws and policies for the environment. Holding our government and corporations accountable for their own impact on the climate.
This sounds like a massive undertaking. But remember: all you need to get going is to take one small step. And then another. And then you keep going until it all builds up.
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How to Succeed at Saving the Climate and Our Future With Mark Jaccard by TARTLE is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
