Here's A Scary Thought: Let's Keep Fossil Fuels In The Ground

WTF? What are you talking about?

You heard me right. Let's keep them in the ground. The choice is clear. If we continue to extract and burn them, dumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in the process, we risk rendering the earth inhospitable for human life. Or, we could stop torching the earth by simply leaving them in the ground. A drastic reduction in their availability would require a complete redesign of the economy, forcing us to develop the use of renewable energy sources to replace fossil fuels.

But that would cause massive pain to a lot of people who depend on their exploitation to earn their livelihoods. Absolutely. Yet, in comparison to the suffering that awaits humanity as a result of parts of the planet becoming inhospitable, it is minor. Short-term pain, long-term gain.

But what about the economy? Weaning ourselves off of fossil fuels would shrink the economy.

Well, there are times when you have to say FUCK the economy: the outbreak of the global COVID pandemic comes to mind. In order to save lives, the populations of the world's leading economies were locked down and commerce was severely reduced, thereby limiting the spread of the virus. Economic growth was sacrificed for the benefit of the population at large.

Turning to the question of catastrophic climate change, if ever there were a context in which the thought, "FUCK the economy" should reign, it is in the context of the immense challenge facing us to mitigate the damage of climate change. If we don't change our ways, and do so quickly, we face the very real possibility of bringing on a massive die off of the human race within the next hundred years.

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There are some that think this isn't such a bad idea, believing that my strong feelings on the subject are too anthropocentric. Maybe I'm wired that way. Others have already reached the conclusion that catastrophic climate change is inevitable and that there isn't anything we can do now to prevent it. The process is already too advanced to change the planet's trajectory. Consequently, we should try to squeeze out as much pleasure as we can before the party is over, like the passengers who drank and danced while the band played on after the Titanic had struck the iceberg.

Personally, I believe we have a moral obligation to abandon our addiction to fossil fuels. Perhaps, going cold turkey is not the way to go about it. Nevertheless, the "Keep Fossil Fuels In The Ground" meme needs to gain traction. It needs to spread and filter its way into the political discourse. The sooner, the better!