I’ll sum up the answer in a short phrase: the fossil fuel industry and world governments must allow science to lead in order for decarbonization to rid the atmosphere of pollution while reshaping energy from fossil fuel to renewable power sources. Here’s more detail.

Common sense should dictate that clean energy is simply the right thing to do. When scary events occur that are normally labeled a crisis, most of the time people clearly unite and solve what they’re faced with. We are doing just that with the current social media’s out of control sex and unsafe drug exploitation. And we did so with last century’s world wars, and the recent pandemic. 

Sadly, unification is not the case with our climate crisis, so far. Global warming is not yet a frightening enough event and remains unchecked due to a far more challenging issue. It’s called division inherent within human nature.

What’s allowing our planet to continue to warm is division. Divisiveness is one of mankind’s most common traits and it goes back to the end of the Ice Age when power and riches included war, conflict, pain and suffering - right to the present time. 

In addition, we are not wired to consider what’s not staring us down and thus, it’s easy to see why we struggle with our climate crisis. Family, work, shelter, transportation, vacations, sports, and education preoccupy our time on Earth. We want to make the most of today, not decades from now..

Science and economics must work side by side in an uncontentious, cooperative state of mind. Science is ready, but the economics side of this required partnership is not because it’s divided between decarbonization activation on one side and profit-making on the other. Until we slice through the partisan divide, nothing will be accomplished soon.So, how did we get to this point in time where the toughest decisions must be made? I’ll again refer to the complex issue of human behavior.

Until the early 1950s, there was no thought of questioning the role of coal, oil and gas in the industrial, transportation, energy, commercial and residential economic sectors. Questioning such progress was unheard of. Fossil fuel power made us what we were, and are today. It was, and is, vital to our survival and I appreciate it because humanity would be lost without it. We all are grateful. Mankind remains dependent on it and for good reason; we must have energy sources to get from point A to point B, and to have heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. In next week’s post, we’ll take a look at the need for full disclosure from the big oil and gas industry (BOG).