[Reader-list] individual 'solutions'

[Nagraj Adve]

Bipin, what I wrote earlier is broadly part of what might be a
collective response. The other aspect is how one might respond
individually. In the context of global warming, this would entail
(better-off individuals) identifying the most high emitting activities
and consumption and minimizing that or cutting it out entirely - such
as flying, using personal ACs, etc.
Unlike some on the Left, I think individual responses are also
important, though perhaps less so. However, I've stopped talking about
it to most people at the individual level. Not because it's not
important, but because most often these dialogues don't go anywhere.
It's up to folks to figure out the seriousness of the issue and do
what they think relevant. However, even those who do change their
lifestyles mostly do so at the margins whereas much more strong
changes are needed.
Naga

On 20 January 2011 11:43, Nagraj Adve <nagraj.adve at gmail.com> wrote:
> Bipin, thinking about it in  terms of 'solutions' reduces the enormity
> and complexity of the problem. It's like some having a heart attack,
> or a very serious heart problem, a crude but reasonable parallel. We
> don't ask, "What's the solution?" We do however try to intervene with
> urgency. Also, in the case of a serious heart situation, the
> intervention is - for those who can afford it - commensurate with the
> seriousness and urgency. We don't say, "Take a dispirin', or 'Stop
> eating samosas', which is what a bunch of people are suggesting re
> climate change (change your lightbulbs, let's get more efficient). We
> rush them to a doctor/hospital.
>
> As for 'solutions', I'm an activist, not a magician. Having said that,
> for a while now, we have been arguing that there needs to be a
> combination of reduced consumption by elites, Indian and non-Indian;
> decentralized production and distribution of electricity to the degree
> possible; use of renewables such as solar and wind in particular; much
> greater promotion of public transport and cutting back on private
> transport and flights. How we do this and still manage to generate
> employment is one of the many tricky issues involved. Look there's a
> lot else, but global warming and whole range of ecological and other
> crises that have been spawned by industrial capitalism has further
> called into question our entire development trajectory, what is being
> produced, how and for whom, urbanization to the degree it has
> happened, how our energy is being generated and used, and a whole
> range of other questions. We need to foreground the concept of (and
> hence struggles for) equity, not only between human beings, but
> between current and future generations (who have as much a right to
> the commons), and between humans and other species.
> Nagraj
>
> On 19 January 2011 21:42, Bipin Trivedi <aliens at dataone.in> wrote:
>> Co2 level is increasing day by day. That’s true. What is the solution according to you? can you tell.
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Nagraj Adve
>> Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 5:36 PM
>> To: Sarai
>> Subject: [Reader-list] 20,000 times the long term rate
>>
>> When I first began following global warming four years ago, articles
>> would refer to carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere as being 379
>> parts per million (ppm). Some weeks back we reached 390 ppm.
>>
>> The long term natural rate over the past several million years has
>> been about one part per million every 10,000 years or so on average,
>> in and out. We are now pumping CO2 in the atmosphere at over 2 ppm a
>> year, or about 20,000 times the long term rate. This is despite the
>> fact that much of what we pump gets absorbed by the oceans, where 90%
>> of the excess (heat) energy is going.
>>
>> We can't say we weren't warned. "Human beings are now carrying out a
>> large scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have
>> happened in the past nor be reproduced in the future," said scientists
>> Roger Revelle and Hans Suess in 1957.
>>
>> I just got back from villages in north and east Gujarat where most
>> people were sceptical that humans had the power to alter nature. I'm
>> just intrigued by how folks react to climate change. Unfortunately
>> there's far too little discussion about this on this list, but those
>> of you interested could email me directly so we can spare those not
>> interested.
>> Naga
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>