#Capitalism solution to climate change.

[nando161mando]

Capitalism solution to climate change.

[greenhorizonblog]

All Night Libraries

Could be so cool to have all night sensory friendly libraries, with nice warm soft lighting, and cute comfy whimsical furniture, art and plants. Where people could just go and read all night, hang with friends and even sleep there in the available rest spaces like hammocks or a little capsule hotel in the library. Very lunarpunk. Would call mine the Moonlight Library

[sinister-yet-satisfying]

So having a fossil fuel executive as the president of the UN Climate Summit is going about as well as expected

Fossil fuel companies and the politicians they employ are murderers. And they should be treated as such.

Abolish billionaires. Ban private jets & mega yachts. Invest in renewable energy and stop listening to politicians and corporations over scientists.

[sparksinthenight]

Get solar panels, get energy efficient retrofitting, get low flush toilets, get LED lights, take the #bus or get an electric car if you really can’t afford to not drive. Only buy what you really, really need. Live in a small home. Live in an apartment if you can. Don’t eat meat. Buy stuff with less plastic packaging. Reuse whatever you can. And most of all, work to destroy capitalism and colonialism. Get a tankless water heater. Get an electric stove. Keep the heating and the air conditioning in your home low. Pick up litter. Use active transportation like walking when you can. Don’t buy acrylic clothes. Buy less, buy less, buy less. Use reusable bottles, cups, plates, bowls, utensils, straws, containers, bags. Wear clothes until you can’t. Don’t buy any clothes you don’t need. I haven’t bought clothes in 8 years. Buy local food. Plant trees. Recycle. And most of all, work to destroy capitalism and colonialism.

[leaving-fragments]

ngl i get way more mad at reactions to Just Stop Oil activities than the actual actions they took. like stop being patronising to these ppl who are desperate for more people to actually listen and do something

[nopain-nokogane]

i wanna ask the shein influencers who stomp their feet and soullessly regurgitate, “individuals aren’t responsible for the actions of corporations!1!!” when they receive criticism online if they realize

a) how supply and demand works

b) that retailers like roles, shein, etc. are corporations that they are actively choosing to support and promote

and c) if they’ve signed any petitions, attended any protests, donated to environmental organizations, or voted in politicians who support greener policies (you know, things that individuals CAN do to mitigate the environmental destruction that companies and corporations cause)

because i feel like the venn diagram of people who fall into the first category and those who answer yes are just two completely separate circles

[writing-with-olive]

so it's kind of long but a really really fascinating read.

tldr: if we want to get people to actually act in a way that improves the climate situation, we gotta take in how psychology actually works, and use a diversity of tactics. Also it uses actual studies to back up how/why some things work with some demographics and are actually counterproductive in others.

[greentempleblog]

Oath of commitment

By her grace, I promise to be what a human is meant to be. To be a conscious part of the cycle of life.

To use my powers and knowledge for the good of all species. I promise to be a student of life and hone my talents to best serve nature, humanity and all descendants. I promise to be free and allow others to be free. I promise to safeguard and care for the vulnerable and myself.

I must always remember, the human thing is to help and it is my duty to lessen suffering in the world. I will uphold this promise of love and alliance we make to each other every day. The promise we live by. The promise we live for. Together. Thank you 

[reasonsforhope]

Green energy is in its heyday. 

Renewable energy sources now account for 22% of the nation’s electricity, and solar has skyrocketed eight times over in the last decade. This spring in California, wind, water, and solar power energy sources exceeded expectations, accounting for an average of 61.5 percent of the state's electricity demand across 52 days. 

But green energy has a lithium problem. Lithium batteries control more than 90% of the global grid battery storage market. 

That’s not just cell phones, laptops, electric toothbrushes, and tools. Scooters, e-bikes, hybrids, and electric vehicles all rely on rechargeable lithium batteries to get going. 

Fortunately, this past week, Natron Energy launched its first-ever commercial-scale production of sodium-ion batteries in the U.S. 

“Sodium-ion batteries offer a unique alternative to lithium-ion, with higher power, faster recharge, longer lifecycle and a completely safe and stable chemistry,” said Colin Wessells — Natron Founder and Co-CEO — at the kick-off event in Michigan. 

The new sodium-ion batteries charge and discharge at rates 10 times faster than lithium-ion, with an estimated lifespan of 50,000 cycles.

Wessells said that using sodium as a primary mineral alternative eliminates industry-wide issues of worker negligence, geopolitical disruption, and the “questionable environmental impacts” inextricably linked to lithium mining. 

“The electrification of our economy is dependent on the development and production of new, innovative energy storage solutions,” Wessells said. 

Why are sodium batteries a better alternative to lithium?

The birth and death cycle of lithium is shadowed in environmental destruction. The process of extracting lithium pollutes the water, air, and soil, and when it’s eventually discarded, the flammable batteries are prone to bursting into flames and burning out in landfills. 

There’s also a human cost. Lithium-ion materials like cobalt and nickel are not only harder to source and procure, but their supply chains are also overwhelmingly attributed to hazardous working conditions and child labor law violations. 

Sodium, on the other hand, is estimated to be 1,000 times more abundant in the earth’s crust than lithium. 

“Unlike lithium, sodium can be produced from an abundant material: salt,” engineer Casey Crownhart wrote ​​in the MIT Technology Review. “Because the raw ingredients are cheap and widely available, there’s potential for sodium-ion batteries to be significantly less expensive than their lithium-ion counterparts if more companies start making more of them.”

What will these batteries be used for?

Right now, Natron has its focus set on AI models and data storage centers, which consume hefty amounts of energy. In 2023, the MIT Technology Review reported that one AI model can emit more than 626,00 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent. 

“We expect our battery solutions will be used to power the explosive growth in data centers used for Artificial Intelligence,” said Wendell Brooks, co-CEO of Natron. 

“With the start of commercial-scale production here in Michigan, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for efficient, safe, and reliable battery energy storage.”

The fast-charging energy alternative also has limitless potential on a consumer level, and Natron is eying telecommunications and EV fast-charging once it begins servicing AI data storage centers in June. 

On a larger scale, sodium-ion batteries could radically change the manufacturing and production sectors — from housing energy to lower electricity costs in warehouses, to charging backup stations and powering electric vehicles, trucks, forklifts, and so on. 

“I founded Natron because we saw climate change as the defining problem of our time,” Wessells said. “We believe batteries have a role to play.”

-via GoodGoodGood, May 3, 2024

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Note: I wanted to make sure this was legit (scientifically and in general), and I'm happy to report that it really is! x, x, x, x

[nando161mando]

A Powerful and Prolonged Heatwave is Affecting Eastern Europe and The Balkans, With Temperatures Reaching Unbearable 42-44°C (~110°F)

[greenhorizonblog]

Homeless Care Package

Some things I'll be buying to make a care package for my local homeless person:

Socks, t- shirt, maybe underwear if it's not too weird, he probably needs it though

Dried foods; jerky, granola bars and dried fruit etc

Tasty sweet treat like a chocolate bar

Instant coffee

Thermos bottle

2 hot water bottles

Multivitamins

Bottled waters

Hand sanitiser and wet wipes

Bar of soap

Nail clipper

Small first aid kit

Gift card to a grocery store

Rain poncho

Sunscreen

Thermal blanket

Personal note letting him know that his situation is not his fault because the government and society is supposed to take care of people, but they don't because of greed and short sightedness

Feel free to take inspiration and make a care package for a homeless person in your city/town. You don't have to show your face, you can wear a face mask and sunglasses, and go with a friend if you're nervous.

It's a small gesture that can go a long way in giving a person hope. Even just cash or a grocery store gift card is a good thing to give. Life is unpredictable. It can take a turn for the worse and suddenly become very hard for anyone

We were never meant to go it alone.

[sinister-yet-satisfying]

If we lived in a decent society we’d behead people like this

Absolute ghouls. People who see the looming water shortage as a profitable opportunity aren’t worth the air they breathe.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

also like, I hate to say this, but most climate solutions that involve "every person changes their behavior immediately" aren't going to work

humans are notoriously difficult to control. this is why fascism never can work, because it relies on control. similarly, trying to get every person on the planet on board with a particular course of action just doesn't happen, because humans are diverse (a good thing!) and do things for lots of different reasons

the CFC ban worked because it just applied to companies using the chemicals, most ordinary folk weren't interacting with it directly.

but you'll note that eco friendly cars are more accessible than ever and lots of people... still drive gas guzzlers. oftentimes, not by choice

the reasons we focus on CEOs and people with large amounts of power in the fight against climate change (rather than every individual person) is because

they're causing most of it

fewer people that we have to force to change

it's just more practical and effective

any ideology or philosophy that involves "getting every human being to agree to do/think X" isn't going to work because we are a stiff-necked species and most of us don't have a lot of choices thanks to capitalism to begin with

so, yeah. kill the fascist in your head. stop thinking you can shame or control everyone into doing what you want. It's not going to happen.

[elfwink]

[leftistcrap]

I think the issue of light pollution really shows just how poorly our current system is built to handle environmental issues. We know light pollution has negative effects on humans and animals. We know how to address it. And because light doesn't stick around like other pollutants, there's nothing to clean up, no lasting damage to address. All we have to do is simply stop producing so much excess light at night and the problem is immediately ameliorated. But because it would cost money to switch over to better lighting systems, because it would make it harder for businesses to advertise their presence to customers at night if they couldn't just blast light everywhere and light up billboards (or even worse, light up drone swarms in the sky), and because there is no direct monetary profit to be gained from this endeavor, it's basically worthless to those in charge.

So it's no wonder so little has been done to address something like climate change, even though the stakes are so much greater and the effects are so much longer lasting. Since nobody wants to bear the monetary burden required to address the issue, all we get are bandaids and half-measures rather than actual solutions. If we want to make actual progress, we need an approach that ignores any question of profitability, and that can't happen under capitalism.

[headspace-hotel]

Another note on climate change despair:

My politics are pretty leftist, especially by the standards of a red state, but I think there is a such thing as Too Far Left re: the systemic nature of problems

It happens when you start to believe that nothing will ever change unless the current system is completely destroyed and a new one built in its place. In particular, when you believe that taking steps to reform, or decrease the harm of, a corrupt system is pointless or even bad, you've gone off the deep end imho.

People from my own country—the United States—will say things like "Gradual, incremental change is pointless, we need Revolution!"

Look me in the eyes and tell me that women's rights, LGBTQ rights, racial equality, etc. are in the same state they were in 1950. Maybe just google these things first.

Revolution IS an incremental change!!! This country has tens of thousands of elected officials and officeholders!! Every life-supporting industry is run by a fucked up Rube Goldberg machine of bureaucracy that could stretch from here to the Moon 87 times!!! This country's laws, institutions, and supply chains are a Bethesda game programmed in the 1700's, released unfinished and currently running thousands of mods, at least half of which either remove crucial game mechanics and content at random or do things like "make your character take damage when he pees." Do you think it's really possible to raze this clusterfuck to the ground and rebuild it from scratch?

anyway, I say this because a concerning amount of people believe literally nothing meaningful can be done to save the planet until our current government and economic system no longer exist.

I get it. Capitalism is what got us into this mess and it's making it worse right now, but we do not have zero agency, capitalism does not have infinite power and wisdom, and humans and governments can and do make decisions that are contrary to the immediate interests of capitalism. I think it's not only possible but normal throughout history for people's actions and beliefs to flow against the prevailing power of the time.

Think of dandelions. They flourish not because they are wanted, but because they are numerous, and the power that controls the grass and sidewalks cannot reach everywhere at once. And so they are unstoppable, and will never be destroyed.

We must have the raw, opportunistic resisting power of weeds, taking hold in every crack in the terrible machine that controls our lives. We must hold on like little plants in an expanse of cracked concrete—the slab will not be dug up and the soil set free anytime soon, but if enough of us live our lives in spite of it, its power will be weakened and its impenetrable nature changed.

Also, just because technological solutions to climate change don't feel right—they don't satisfy the longer-term, idealized principle of healing the Earth and creating a more sustainable society—doesn't mean they wouldn't, in the short term, work.

Get in losers, we're burning incense to Caesar and tomorrow we will be alive.