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December 18, 2009
Just what does "reducing carbon emissions to 80% of 1990 levels, by 2050" really mean?
Now, I have an easy way to picture 2050:
my daughter, Sibyl, will be 42 in 2050. As a student of history, I also have an easy way to picture an 80% reduction in fossil-fuel use: Germany and Japan in, say, 1944. The little Nips, for instance, had a very active alternative-energy program. I believe turpentine from pine trees was a key component. The primary sources display little fondness for this weird fuel. An 80% energy cutoff goes beyond any mere economic calculation. It is a punitive measure of military proportions - to which one might subject a defeated enemy nation - for the purpose of collective penal subjugation. -- Unqualified Reservations: Climategate: history's message
Posted by Vanderleun at December 18, 2009 4:12 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
One time, going to UR following a post from AD, I became hooked. MM outdid himself on this one you linked. It could be a textbook all by itself.
Posted by: stephen at December 18, 2009 4:34 PM
It works if you ignore nuclear power.
Posted by: Fat Man at December 18, 2009 10:07 PM
...an 80% cut is different from what the target is which is down to a level equal to 80% OF 1990 levels
Posted by: Barnabus at December 19, 2009 12:45 PM
A reduction of "carbon emissions to 80% of 1990 levels, by 2050" means Sibyl will be 42 and cold as hell.
Posted by: monkeyfan at December 19, 2009 4:18 PM