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Elon Musk: "The greater the change to the chemical composition of the physical, chemical makeup of the oceans and atmosphere (due to increased carbon emissions), the greater the long-term effect will be... Why would you run this crazy experiment to see how bad it'll be? We know it's at least some bad, and the overwhelming scientific consensus is that it'll be really bad."

“Even if you put the environmental consequences of dramatically changing the chemical composition of the oceans and atmosphere aside, we will eventually run out of oil. If we don’t find a solution to burning oil for transport, and we then run out of oil, the economy will collapse and civilization will come to an end as we know it. And so if we know that we have to ultimately get off oil no matter what — we know that is an inescapable outcome, it’s simply a question of when, not if — then, why would you run this crazy experiment of changing the chemical composition of the atmosphere and oceans by adding enormous amounts of CO2 that’ve been buried since the pre-Cambrian era? That’s crazy. That is the dumbest experiment in history, by far. Can you think of a dumber experiment? I honestly cannot. What good could possibly come of it?”

-- Elon Musk Interviewed by Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s in 'Star Talk' '

The "thin blue" layer... absorbing the sum of human-produced emissions...

Today's generation begins to measure and calculate the cost of "externalities"

October 2018

"A chemical experiment with unknown consequences is taking place above and around us. The Earth's atmosphere, a thin layer that enables and protects life, is being impacted by potentially deadly human-produced emissions, even as a first generation of data and science is being produced with atmospheric observations from space. We are beginning to realize the extent of an existential experiment humanity is conducting in the atmosphere of the planet. The Anthropocene era is a gathering storm that is changing 'nature' and our responsibility to future generations is profound." -- Steven Schmidt

GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: On Facebook over the past few weeks a conversation, a thread as it's called, has come together between Florida and California. Here are a few of the exchanges as the question of "externalities" are being discussed and acknowledged as difficult for most to understand.

Here Ron Merkord, a graduate of applied physics at Caltech, ventures that externalities are like "trash" and decisions are being made to dump this trash in our neighbor's yards. "(We) just dump the trash CO2 emissions into everyone's atmosphere, not worrying about the cost of cleanup or the cost to future generations for a warming planet."

The metaphor equating trash=externalities is not far from reality.

Take a close look at GreenPolicy's pages covering "externalities" and consider how we/humankind, individually/communities/businesses/governments are 'dumping' our trash into other's 'yards', into the water/air, food, and into 'The Commons', our natural resources, "everyone's atmosphere", where our trash/pollutants are a gathering storm, causing damage with severe consequences.

Future generations will have to deal with the damage our generation, our legacy is leaving behind.

We still have time to act, to measure and monitor the impact of externalities, emissions, pollution.

We can still make a difference in what we leave as a legacy of our time on earth.

Facebook

Ron Merkord

October 20 at 11:11 AM ·

I had this great idea to save money the other day. Rather than paying our monthly $96 for trash pickup, I could just take our trash each week and go dump it on our neighbor's property. Instant savings!

Crazy, right? Of course, no one would really do that. Yet that is exactly what we do when burning cheap fossil fuels, and then just dump the trash CO2 emissions into everyone's atmosphere, not worrying about the cost of cleanup or the cost to future generations for a warming planet.

These are called externalities in accounting -- these hidden costs that are borne by a third party, in this case our planet. This is why our switching to 100% renewable energy (such as our recent switch here in Ventura County) is so important, even if it costs a little more. Because really, it doesn't cost more if you figure in the cost of taking out the trash.

Ron Merkord

October 5 at 9:18 AM ·

Reality check -- every single day, 365 days a year, our burning of fossil fuels now releases 112 million tons of carbon dioxide gas into our atmosphere. 112 million tons, every... single... day!

Of all the countries that signed the Paris Climate Accord, not a single country has held to the emissions cuts promised to even hold global temperature rise to +2C. Realistically, we are now on track for a +4C temp rise.

Try and picture what 112 million tons of something, every single day, actually looks like. For example, that is like 60 million cars (1 out of every 5 in the US) being vaporized into gas and put into our atmosphere, every... single... day. In just five days there would be no cars left in the US.

The scale of what we are doing is so astounding, our minds can't even picture the scale of what is really going on.

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Comments

Steven Schmidt: Elon Musk speaks of these emissions as a vast chemical 'experiment'. I talk of a 'thin blue layer', our troposphere, into which we are pumping our 'externalities'. www.thinbluelayer.com

Steve Rothboeck: We may be on track for 4C warming, but civilization may collapse (if God forbid we stay on this course) before that level is reached. Climate change could be the underlying causal factor for floods, fires, famine, and war, etc.

The perplexing thing is that today we have the technology to substantially mitigate climate change, through a transition to renewable energy sources.

We also need to address population, pollution, habitat destruction, and extinctions.

But it's a lack of will not technology that so far prevents humanity from changing direction (forgive me for stating the obvious and preaching to the choir).

Ron Merkord: Steve, I find the lack of will just astounding. Everyone is concerned about this or that being a little cheaper than renewables or low carbon alternatives, so that they can afford an extra toy. Yet they ignore how we are selling out the future of our kids.

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