Climate Change

Notes after watching PBS “The Abolitionists” Part 1 of 3
January 8, 2012

The Abolitionists of today are the people advocating to change the economic and political institutions of America based on moral principals. In the same way that individual states banned slavery, today states are changing the economic and political institutions that support the fossil fuel industry. States are reducing CO2 emissions while the fossil fuel industry is advocating shipping coal to China and building a pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast to process oil.

After land, slaves were the greatest economic asset in the American economy in the early 1800s. Southern slave owners were the richest people on earth. Today, the fossil fuel industry provides the energy that fuels the American economy. The value of the known reserves in the ground are factored into the stock price of the companies. Rich people and powerful corporations have their wealth and income dependent on the value of the fossil fuel industry. They will fight to preserve that value.

Abolitionists and slave owners had different economic, political and moral beliefs. Today,  in the same way, people advocating stopping all CO2 emissions and the fossil fuel industry have different beliefs. The Climate Change advocates are taking a broad moral view that future generations must be protected. The American economy is threatened with a depression and significant unemployment if the fossil fuel industry is shutdown.

The same dilemma that exited prior to the Civil War, now exists on a global scale and within the United States. We will suffer the consequences no matter what we do. If we shutdown the fossil fuel industry the American and global economy will collapse. If we continue to rely on fossil fuels the American and global economy will collapse due to the consequences of climate change.  The longer America delays resolving this dilemma the greater the consequences.

The Abolitionist William Garrison said the American government was not legitimate because of the conflict in the constitution between the support for slavery, and the liberty and freedoms granted.  In the same way, today’s federal government is not legitimate because of the moral corruption caused by the support for the fossil fuel industry.

The Lockean Proviso states that by working on private property from nature, people can do so only "...at least where there is enough, and as good, left in common for others".  The fossil fuel industry maintains their private property rights but they are polluting the atmosphere so that future generations will not have enough, and as good, left in common.

A rogue nation, corporation or wealthy individual could implement geoengineering and America might respond with fighter jets being scrambled to take down tanker jets sent aloft to spray aerosols, or taking out balloons carrying up hoses to do the same thing. 

Today, there is no legitimate system of governance that would be able to make decisions about implementation of geoengineering to either reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere or reduce solar radiation penetrating past the stratosphere.  A new institution will be created on a global scale with the authority to protect the atmosphere for future generations.

Instead of being localized to America, like the collapse of the slave economy and the Civil War, the collapse of the fossil fuel industry and the consequences of climate change will be a global catastrophe. Both will happen at the same time.