Thanks for taking professor Carroll on. I hope you and allies can offer alternatives to his audience.
Gene > On Feb 26, 2016, at 1:38 PM, [email protected] wrote: > > > The word "fossil fuels" has the interesting connotation of > being outmoded fuels, fuels of a past time. No wonder the > industry tries to change the word. The geology professor > and fracking adviser Alan R Carroll calls them "geofuels" > and has written a book about fossil fuels under this title. > This book is a rhetorical masterpiece in defending the > indefensible, namely, continued dependence on fossil fuels, > mainly by asking irrelevant questions and giving nice > scientific answers. This book looks at fossil fuels from a > geologic perspective which glosses over the mundane > necessities of what to do today to maintain the living > condition for one species. Interesting example how the > science of geology makes itself palatable to the fossil fuel > industries, which are the main employers of geologists. > > I am disappointed but not surprised that the University of > Utah, along with their refusal to divest, has invited > Carroll and made his book available to everybody on campus. > > Carroll will give a talk named "What Everyone Should Know > About Fossil Fuels (Before They Divest)" -- Thursday, March > 3, 2016, 4-5 pm, Room 310, James Talmage Building at the SE > corner of President's Circle of U of Utah. > > Here are some quotes from the book, with my comments: > >> If we are not going to run out of fossil fuels soon, our >> best hope for avoiding their negative consequences is to >> develop other energy sources that can outcompete them. This >> will not be easy. (335) > > No word about taxing fossil fuels or outright phasing out > and banning their mining. No word about the many toxic > chemicals which have accumulated in fossil fuels along with > the concentrated energy. He takes the capitalist system as > given without alternatives, he does not even want to > regulate it. In the last two chapters of the book, I have > not seen any reference to our social structure, which > according to many scientists is the main obstacle to the > changes necessary to prevent climate catastrophe. > >> As bad as the effects of global warming may become over >> the next century, famine and malnutrition are by nature more >> immediate problems. (p. 346) > > This is not an either-or but they must go hand in hand. > Combating famine and malnutrition do not preclude combating > climate change but they are one and the same if you are > doing it right. Of course, if you try to do it on the cheap > and use fossil fuels to bring peoples out of poverty now, > you are giving them a "poisoned chalice" (Asad Rehman) and > you robbing the future of future generations everywhere on > this planet. > >> Fossil fuel extraction technologies are evolving rapidly, and >> several different approaches to mitigating their atmospheric impact >> are also being explored. (p. 345) > > My guess is that he is talking about CSS and several ways of > geo-engineering. We should teach our students why these > "remedies" are not likely to work, instead of kindling their > hope for miraculous technologies. > > After promoting miracle cures, the book in its very last > paragraph dismisses one of the approaches which might in > fact make a difference, and which will happen whether we > want it or not: > >> In the end the only truly "green" energy strategy is to use less of >> it. This will not be so easy to do, however, because energy use is closely >> associated with wealth. Most of us in the developed world probably do >> not want to return to the horse-and-buggy lifestyles experienced by >> our ancestors only a few generations ago. Since we cannot escape the >> negative consequences of our own energy consumption, we will be >> forced instead to choose the consequences we deem least damaging. (p. 346) > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
