Why can’t we get a hold of global warming and are we actually working on a solution? I want to shed light on the advantages and disadvantages of our current economic system and its possible limits to make an actual impact. The many different present understandings of how to fight for #climatejustice.

Solar roof and Model S by Tesla (source: Tesla)

I’ve considered myself an environmentalist since the age of about 15. Resonating with social justice topics followed soon after.

About 4 years later I started following Tesla and the sustainable transportation & energy space. With more awareness, my concerns grew. I now strongly support and love talking about Tesla and other sustainable brands. They’re pushing tremendously hard with unprecedented passion to be a solution for our current biggest global challenge.

My own challenge in all this is trying to understand if these attempts really are different from all the promises that have been hope-inspiring in the past 20 years.

Solar, Wind, Water Power and subsidies for those renewables held tremendous promises. Adaption of those renewable energy sources has grown significantly too.

Companies that seem to have no or horrifically negative impact on reducing CO2 emissions like fossil fuel companies “greenwashed” their appearance all the way through hypocrisy and beyond.

>> The troubling evolution of corporate greenwashing (The Guardian)

Global CO2 emissions skyrocketed further.

“Whilst data from 2014 to 2017 suggested global annual emissions of CO2 had approximately stabilized, the most recent (preliminary) data from the Global Carbon Project reported a 2.7 percent increase in 2018.”

All promises considered the scientific charts aren’t motivating. An optimist could argue that the wealthiest “most conscious” continent, Europe, actually shows a trend towards less CO2 emissions but one can easily argue that emissions have just been transferred elsewhere. With wealth comes an increase in labor cost which leads to transferring as much work as possible to places where labor is the cheapest. Most of the goods consumed in the west do have its production source in regions where emissions are exploding.

>> Low-cost country sourcing (Wikipedia)

Where do emissions come from?

If saving plastic straws and buying organic food (which in some cases is more inefficient than non-organic) products seem hope inspiring it’s even more important to get into how to tackle the worlds biggest polluters. Do we feel that climate awareness campaigns really are really going to have an influence for the better? Even if we know that just 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988? Imagine the drastic changes required to go anywhere towards the hope zone with these examples.

From Just 100 companies responsible for 71% of global emissions, The Guardian

The list shows that fossil fuels are the main contributors which again according to current promises get now replaced with solar and wind in countries like China and India. I want and to some degree believe that’s the case but a bigger question mark is if new polluting placeholders or simply sheer production growth are going to compensate for the progress made.

Oh and don’t get me wrong it is morally noble to use the most sustainable form of energy, transport, food, products etc. whenever you have to possibility to do the research and afford whatever seems right. Drive electric if you have to drive, eat vegan if you have to eat, buy “green” if you have to buy it’s what’s going to be the norm in the future we’re all striving for.

Where’s the real new?

With the disappointment of recent developments voices that request an alternative economic system keep getting louder and the 15-year-old Greta Thunberg just tossed a whole lot of fuel into that discussion.

School strike for climate — save the world by changing the rules | Greta Thunberg | TEDxStockholm

At the end of her TEDx talk, Greta cynically states:

“This is where people usually start talking about hope, solar panels, wind power, circular economy and so on. We’ve had 30 years of pep talking and selling positive ideas but sorry, it didn’t work.”

The projections by The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions seem to support the pessimism going forward.

Historic and Projected Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions (source: Center for Climate and Energy Solutions)

As a Tesla fan and fighter for clean tech facts like these do obviously hit me where it hurts. It’s obvious that with more countries reaching a status of significant wealth the consumption increases along. Corporates currently have very little incentive to reduce your material desires but instead will throw new products on the market that make your current possessions even a source of dissatisfaction. New markets mean further possibilities of expansion and growth.

The anticapitalist movement would, with that, point to the neverending hunger for more that’s deeply rooted in the current capitalistic system.

“Yes you’re right, there are too many cars on this planet –but not enough BMWs” -Harald Krueger, CEO BMW

Here’s a piece from Sam Harris, a philosopher, and neuroscientist I admire, where he talks about “the iPhone moment” (starting 0:54)

Sam Harris in Minimalism documentary (starting 0:54 talking about iPhone moment)

No product is the cleanest product

Greener than getting a new Tesla is continuing to drive your old Tesla. Greener than your old Tesla is no Tesla at all (or no car for that matter) or using your bike or public transport. But we’ve developed into a culture that starkly contrasts what many of us believe would be best for the climate.

Don’t forget how your transport behavior is mostly based on the options you have and the culture of moving you’ve grown into. If you’re let’s say in the US you’re thinking of a car as an item of freedom. In many places in Europe owning a car can be perceived as a hassle and taking the bike or train seems the biggest freedom one could have. If we’re honest with ourselves we know how much advertising from the biggest corporates and political interest are influencing what we understand as our own opinion.

Is Tesla just as good or bad as everything else?

Here’s an important note: The engineering work and products that Tesla creates would find a place in every economic system and that’s what lifts them above most other conventional car makers, fossil fuel companies and the like. Also: Tesla isn’t greenwashing — its whole corporate vision is built around making the transport and energy sector sustainable.

That’s way different from pumping oil out of the ground and then hiring a consultant firm to discuss how to put a green package around the same s**t.

What we shouldn’t think though is that Tesla is going to solve the climate crisis that’s going on, not even 3, 5 or 10 companies like Tesla. To change direction on our current Autobahn into extinction (your destination is one block away on the right) we need a completely different incentive structure or probably complete overhauls of our economic systems.

That open question is the inconvenient truth because as Tesla fans we know how the powerful hate to be taken out of power. Tesla gets attacked from all sides even though they’re not even trying to get rid of the system but rather making small changes within it. It’s an endlessly exhaustive fight.

We need to find out what politics role is and how we can increase the speed of transition to a green economy.

I urge us to think, discuss, debate if what we want for our planet, our kids and our legacy is possible with the current system we live in and act accordingly. I haven’t made my mind up on this and am craving more knowledge on the path to the light.

“Instead of looking for hope — look for action.” -Greta Thunberg

What do I want from you? I want you to think about what roles companies, individuals and politics all have to play. Since green companies and individual consumer choices could not be enough, maybe we need to rethink our political and economic systems? What’s your reaction to the movements fighting for a new system?

Thanks to @flaviorump & Elias for giving me inputs on this piece.

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