The Future is Electric

Actual conservatives, people interested in preserving the environment, preserving the progress that’s been made and not that interested in new progress, and working off of solid empirical evidence of what works and what doesn’t, are mostly not in the Conservative Party of Canada today. This is a podcast version of an article by the same name in the TFIE Medium publication.

What is true for every small settlement in rural areas is more true for the Yukon: their ability to survive and thrive in the era of urbanization is deeply challenged. It’s extremely difficult to offer even the basics of living in developed countries: clean water, reliable electricity, a diverse diet and internet connectivity. All of these things are more challenged by climate change. This is a podcast version of the article of the same name in the Medium TFIE publication.

Listening to Trump on wind energy provides such a fact-free experience that anyone exposed to his ranting ends up less informed. Pity the poor students, unless they were psychology students of course, as they would be gaining invaluable case material. This is a podcast version of the article of the same name on the Medium TFIE publication.

The oil industry and Alberta are going to leave Canadians from outside of Alberta with a quarter trillion dollar liability to clean up. And we will. But we’re going to be really pissed at Alberta and Albertans for decades over it. This is a podcast version of the article of the same name on the Medium TFIE publication.

It’s our job to help them. Let no aged, ignorant, mush-brained, conservative man be left behind will be our rallying call. We will celebrate our victories and rue each one who passes into that good night still watching Fox News and reading Breitbart. This is a podcast version of the article of the same name in the Medium TFIE publication.

I've been paying attention to climate change deniers and the academic studies around their delusions for years. They used to be able to surprise me, but now they are so far down the rabbit hole of ignorance and bile that it's impossible for them to shock me. This is a podcast version of the article of same name in the TFIE Medium publication.

We have multiple lines of evidence that indicate that Republicans need to win a lot of Independents to win the Presidency, that Independents are increasingly concerned about climate change, and that this is probably even more true in Florida than anywhere else. This is a podcast version of the article of the same name in the TFIE Medium publication.

We are experiencing a period of increasing isolation between left and right in North America, and the data suggests that’s true in Europe as well. Many on the right think that liberal-oriented parties have become too extreme, too left wing. So why do liberals have such different world views than conservatives these days? In general, data and reality. This is a podcast version of the article of the same name on the TFIE Medium publication.

Climate change is the most significant issue of the 21st Century. It’s already causing environmental refugees, economic impacts, health impacts and the impacts are only going to increase over the next 80 and 200 years. Urgent action is required, as the UN IPCC 1.5 degree reports make clear. Yet mass media is significantly challenged in their coverage. What can be done? This is podcast version of the article of the same name in the TFIE Medium publication.

Carbon taxes and cap-and-trade systems are policy tools. Regulation is a policy tool. Picking winners such as wind and solar to incent via tax breaks and feed-in tariffs are policy tools. Picking losers such as coal to eliminate is a policy tool. The answer won’t be either taxes or regulation, but both. This is a podcast version of the article of the same name on the TFIE Medium publication.