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| THE BIG PICTURE |
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| ANALITIC SOLUTIONS |
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| PERSONAL ACTIONS |
Read below for the rationale of each of these pillars for change.
Cleanest & Best Bet:
Existing Nuclear Power (Fission)
Atomic power is a proven technology. It exists now and can be safe now. With geologic storage, it is clean – forever. Using high volume, cookie-cutter designs it can be cheap, cheap, cheap.
All that is needed is the vision and the will. Investors could actually make money from this planet saving initiative.
Atomic power remains unpalatable to many people today. It still seems risky, even though it is not. Prediction: Climate change impacts and extreme weather events will become so horrific over the next decade, that suddenly the only viable solution will start to look really good: Nuclear Fission plants, to replace oil, gas & coal, before Fusion is ready.
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THE BIG PICTURE
PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY TAX / DIVIDENDS
Details on a balanced Sustainability Tax definition are provided on this site. Implementing such a tax scheme depends on grass roots demand for change. Few politicians or captains of industry are going to volunteer for these changes, without a good hard shove in the right direction. After the Industrial Revolution, people and unions had to fight hard for fair wages and fair working conditions. Grass roots movements and organizations now need to fight for our planet.
All Liberal, Social and Green Party candidates are invited to embrace Sustainability Tax, or their version of the concept. Let it become a well defined economic principle and global movement.
Carbon Dividends – An appeal to conservative politicians, organizations and citizens: The conservative think tank, the Climate Leadership Council, want to see carbon tax paid out as dividends to consumers. Prominent Republican politians have endorsed this concept.
Strong leaders who are grounded in reality are needed.
Politicians need to put climate ahead of short term economics
TAX THE ULTRA RICH! – Hooray.
Here is something most people can get behind: Tax the ridiculously rich, those company owners, CEOs, or simple inheritors, who have benefited the most financially from the fossil fuel revolution, in every industry. A carbon tax will not disrupt their lives, as it may do to factory workers. All those folks with more than $100 million in the bank can easily pay for the transition to energy sources other than fossil fuels.
There are > 200,000 ultra-rich persons in the world, with liquid assets of > 30 million. (Wikipedia page on the ultra rich). Adding the data together, the group owns $27 trillion in assets. 10% of that is $2,700,000,000,000 ($2.7 trillion). That would go a long way toward designing better batteries for power storage, or building 1,000 + safe nuclear fission (atomic) power plants, based on high volume production of a single design.
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If we tax all ridiculously rich people equally, it will not hurt them. Rich people do not need more money – they only compete for “Who Has The Most”. A 10% wealth haircut for every rich person will let them all continue to compete on the same level playing field.
Bonus: It really is time for there to be some income equality between rich and poor in N. America, Europe and developing countries all over the world. Otherwise there may be revolutions.
(chart source: wikipedia, wealth inequality)
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Time for a haircut at the top!
Owners and CEOs got a lot of loot (profit & wealth) from a wide range of industries during the fossil fuel age. Let the rich pay for the damage to the planet.
Here’s an even better visual:
US vs Europe Income Inequality
Compared to Europe, the US looks like a third world country.
Percentages of national income are shown, from 1980 – 2016, for the top 1% of people versus the bottom 50% of all people. Thank the Reagan tax cuts of the 1980s for this world turned upside-down.
Source: World Inequality Report 2018
Tax the Rich. Let them pay for the damage to the planet that made them so wealthy, while working and middle class incomes stagnated since 1980.
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US Voter’s Guide on Climate Heroes and Zeroes
Interactive Map by Vote Climate PAC.org,
allows search for candidate positions on climate change
and carbon tax and dividends, by state or by zip code
Vote Climate PAC statement:
Quote: “Our ultimate goal of passing a federal carbon fee is the single, most critical step we can take toward addressing climate change. It starts with electing the candidates to get it done.” (end quote)
Look for Map updates on 2020 election candidates.
Vote for Climate Action!
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Personal Actions on Climate & Sustainability
Lowering Personal Ecological Footprint
– things you can choose to do, if you want to:
Details on Women’s Education, Buying Carbon Offsets, and a Low Eco-Footprint Diet, follow
FUNDING FOR WOMEN`S EDUCATION
From the page on EDUCATION:
In countries where 80% of Women attend highschool, average birth rate drops to two (2) children.
This is a far more sustainable for the planet, than seen in the least developed countries, where fertility rates remain high (4+).
Education of Women (and men too) has the highest leverage or multiplying factor toward reducing birth rate in an ethical fashion. Humanitarian spending has many needs, some of which are critical short term. The best long term investment is in Education of Women. This will also promote health, improved human rights, ethical population management, and reduction of conflict.
Donate to Women’s Education in Least Developed Countries,
- Use paypal or a credit card; select your amount: $1, $10, $100 or … ?
- Any amount is appreciated
- (See our commitment to the wise use of funds)
| choose your amount on the donation page |
. donate via Paypal or credit card |
BUY HAPPINESS – BUY CARBON OFFSETS
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Carbon: Some embrace carbon taxes, others do not. But really, it’s time to live within the means of the earth. Less affluent countries and students are already helping by not being high-energy consumers, and not being frequent flyers!!
This is an entreaty to the more comfortable middle class, the affluent, and the rich. You can pitch-in by purchasing Carbon Offsets when flying somewhere. It will be like buying happiness. You can do this at TerraPass.com. The TerraPass concept is to be transparent (audited) and to create real and additional carbon capture or carbon reduction projects. Good general environmental information is found at the site too. It’s the best site we could find.
Offsets are not too Expensive:
Here is an example from the Carbon Calculator at TerraPass.com:
(Disclaimer: This website has no business connection to TerraPass)
For only $200 – $300 / year, many persons in developed countries can afford to offset their carbon footprint. Live a “crazy rich western life”, almost guilt-free.
Benefits of a Vege and Small Fish Diet:
(A “Pescatarian” Diet)
The section on FOOD PRODUCTION covers:
- Carbon emissions of animal and plant food products
- Fishing and sustainable aquaculture
- Control of todays industrial Food chain
- Health benefits of a Pescatarian diet
A diet based on sustainable seafood and plants (other than grains) has multiple benefits, for both individuals and for the planet. To get the same amount of protein and nutrition, a Pescatarian diet:
(a) uses far less fresh water,
(b) has sigificantly lower carbon emissions, and
(c) combats sugar addiction and weight gain.
Changing one’s diet can be a bigger reduction of personal ecological footprint, than changing modes of transportation or having an energy efficient home.
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ENFORCING HUMAN RIGHTS
This is a massive subject, and has been the focus of Amnesty International and other organizations. Human Rights are such a large and complex subject, overall. It is best to go straight to the sources and experts, such as Amnesty International, to get the big picture on human rights
Living Wages for Factory Workers. A sustainable planet needs some wage equality. This part of human rights is introduced here.
image from:
Asia Floor Wage – (Fighting Wage Slavery)
A large element of human rights is the subject of a Living Wage, for persons (often women) in garment, footwear, and electronics factories, in poor countries. Consumer goods are shipped to developed countries and sold at prices many times the value of the labor used to create them. Prices are often at 20 x to 100 x the factory labor value. The labor component can be as low as 1% in high-end, well-known brands. The topic of labor in poor countries is exposed further on the
Wage Slavery page.
It is firmly believed that transition to a Sustainable Planet is deeply connected to, and dependent upon global human rights, including fairness in the workplace.
Return to the Top of the Page
GRASSROOTS
– Media
– Social Media
– Global reach
– Influencing politics and governments
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NON-VIOLENT PROTESTS
Protests are a great way to go. The more media coverage they get, the better. This is the best approach to moving politicians in the right direction. Some growing organizations:
- Students Striking from School for a Safe Climate Future
- Extinction Rebellion (UK and Global)
- Sunrise Movement (US)
- Green New Deal (US) A play on Roosevelt’s New Deal, causing the nation to invest in infrastructure and a better nation
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- 40 sustainable cities – Cities will shape our future. C40 cities around the world are taking bold climate action, leading the way towards a healthier and more sustainable future.
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ETHICAL CAPITALISM
This is defined as a combination of applying Sustainability Tax in the global economy and Human Rights in the global workplace.
SHORT LIVED AIR (& climate) POLLUTANT (SLAPs) CONTROL
Proverty is tied to Short Lived Air Pollutants (SLAPs). Poorer people rely on burning biomass (wood & other) for cooking. 3 Billion persons cook over open fires. It is bad for health and good at producing harmful black carbon. Producing cheap energy from coal, abundant in Asia and the US, is also problematic. Reducing poverty world-wide will reduce harmful sources of black carbon, methane, ozone and HFCs – all are SLAPs.
Combined, Short Lived Air Pollutants (SLAPs), cause as much climate change as very long-life carbon dioxide. These can be reduced NOW, by fighting poverty.
Anothger leading cause of SLAPs is animal agriculture. Meat production produces massive amounts of methane and nitrous oxide. These short-lived gases have a much higher impact on temperature change than carbon dioxide. A plant-based diet is a great way to offset CO2 impacts.
Link: World Resources Institute – WRI.org Blog
INADEQUATE HYDRO, SOLAR & WIND
Renewable Energy:
Take the link in the title to see the limited Wind & Solar part of global Energy. Discover other Renewable Energy sources and get an introduction to Fusion, the holy grail of Renewables: Nuclear Fusion is a Limitless and Clean Energy source. Too bad it is still decades out in the future.
SELLING THE SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPT
Death and Taxes are universal. They cannot be avoided. Even a tariff is just another form of taxation on goods. It seems logical, therefore, to use tax systems everywhere, to fix the economy and capitalism. Consider capitalism: It just won’t go away. Most people want to be rewarded for their hard work by some form of monetary compensation and the chance to succeed. That motivation to “win” needs to be kept in place. Let’s redefine the measurement of financial success:
- Replace GDP with Bio Capacity measurements for every Country and per Capita. Even GDP per Capita, a measure of productivity and living standard, is a better benchmark than absolute GDP. There are thousands of economists out there who could do a better job of defining this than I; they need the mission. World Economic Forum and Global Footprint Network – let’s get it together.
- Individual Participation. This is harder to define and measure. (Working on it; need a brainstorm). How can a person succeed both financially and sustainably, in equal measures? This economic conundrum needs a Nobel Prize level investigator or two. A starting point may be measuring and publishing individual contributions to sustainability (voluntarily). This is not like publishing a salary – it is more a recognition of leadership.
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Download: The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF.org) Strategic Plan for 2025: EDF – Pathways 2025, at their website.
It is a plan with carefully constructed priorities for environmental actions around the world. Many vital programs are highlighted, ranging from initiatives to reduce overfishing, to carbon trading, and more …
The RtW COMMITMENT on DONATIONS
Funds donated to women’s education at our site, RescueTheWorld.net (RtW), enter a separate, audited bank account. They are forwarded to the best organizations delivering schools for girls, on the ground, in least developed countries. There is NO overhead on this account – all funds go directly to schools. Quarterly, a transactions page on this website will be updated, listing account activity, for complete transparency. The first target recipient is:
- Friends Of Rural Women And Children (FORWAC), Kenya
– Yearly secondary day school fees: KES 17,000 (US $170).
– Yearly 2nd’ry boarding school fees: KES 53,000 (US $530).
Return to the RtW Donations Section
BIOCAPACITY
Everything is driven by commerce, so why not use financial motivations to create a Sustainable Planet? Focus on GDP growth needs to shift to growth in Bio Capacity. In business, “what gets measured, get’s done”. We must change the measures of success.