Time for some optimism about the climate crisis (from Sharing for Survival)

By Richard Douthwaite with help from David Knight

In his final completed analysis before his death in November 2011, Richard Douthwaite explored the interlinked problems of climate change, peak fossil fuels and the credit crunch and then presented grounds for some optimism, including means of adjusting energy and commodity markets to start to address these ills, and other measures to deal with non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions.

He argued that the climate crisis can be overcome and that many people’s lives, particularly in the poorer countries, could be materially better than they are now because of the work the production of biofuels and biochemicals to replace their fossil equivalents should bring, coupled with the additional fertility that biochar should create. But he believed that one thing is necessary first: the twin myths that there’s plenty of energy and that economic growth can continue need to be exposed. If climate campaigners can get that message over, their battle would be as good as won.

Read the whole chapter

This is the final chapter of the Feasta climate group’s book Sharing for Survival to go online. You can now read the whole book in web format and order hard copies at http://www.sharingforsurvival.org.

Featured image: sunrise on fields. Author: Andreas Krappweis. Source: http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=1404309