Out of masterresource
By Robert Bradley Jr.
“It takes a few words from leading environmentalists to make ecological arguments against climate alarmism and forced energy transition. But overall, the problems of wind, solar and batteries are significant and require a course correction by the Big Green movement, which looks the other way, mentions everything and runs away, and only wishes and hopes.”
Yes, she is a climate alarmist and supports a forced (government-led) energy transition to lower quality, non-ecological energies. But she has made some sensible observations about the climate crusade and the climate agenda that give hope for a course correction towards an improvement in human and ecological conditions.
Consider this recent Canadian Broadcasting Corporation article, brought to my attention via LinkedIn (via Ian McCoy): “Climate campaigner Jane Goodall isn't convinced about carbon taxes and electric vehicles.” (April 13, 2024). Following are quotes from the CBC article on two areas: a carbon dioxide (CO2) tax and electric vehicles (EVs).
Carbon tax
World-renowned primatologist and climate activist Jane Goodall says carbon pricing systems like the one introduced in Canada are not a panacea to solving the acute threat of climate change. Goodall said the jury is still out on whether putting a consumer price on emissions will make a tangible difference to the climate situation in the long term.
Goodall, who just turned 90, said a carbon tax could be punitive for consumers – making a measure to combat climate change seem like a costly proposition. She said she also worried that the fight against climate change “has become politicised… which means people just don't listen”….
“The problem with a climate tax is that … it doesn't address the root cause, which is fossil fuel emissions and methane emissions from industrial agriculture,” she said. “So in that sense, it's not something I support.” …
Electric vehicles
However, she added that she is concerned about the current generation of electric vehicles, which largely rely on lithium batteries. She welcomes electric vehicles as a concept, but fears that the global race to mine lithium is ruining parts of the natural environment.
“Lithium mining is currently destroying huge areas,” she said. “Nature is being disfigured as a result.”
Pointing to Serbia, where the prospect of lithium mining has drawn anger from local activists, Goodall said there was a risk that the rush to exploit the world's lithium reserves would damage the “pristine environment” and trigger a backlash.
She also said that lithium mining and refining required “a lot of water,” which was “difficult in places where there isn't much fresh water.”
“For me, that's one of the big problems with electric vehicles,” said Goodall. “Obviously there are other ways to source batteries than lithium, and those need to be developed.” …
Concluding remarks
It only takes a few words from leading establishment environmentalists to make an ecological case against climate alarmism and forced energy transition. But taken as a whole, the problems of wind, solar and batteries are significant and require a course correction of the look-the-other-way, mention-it-all, wish-it-all, hope-it-all Big Green politics. Jane Goodall and James Hansen, the father of climate alarm, recently did just that.
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