One pitch black blog today….
Days before the final text of COP21 will be presented I visited a small seminar in Amsterdam this morning where the most advanced group of transition idealists were gathered to discuss how the region could defossilize in 13 years time.
This man on the moon project is doomed to fail, they said themselves, but they’re going to go for it anyways. I’ll join them and want to even help realize the the set goal regardless the opposition that is going to be met.
The task at hand is indeed gargantuan, 10’s of thousands of jobs relying on the role of Amsterdam as a fossil fuel transit harbour…..how are we going to find new business and new jobs on that scale?
I am deeply convinced that we, the West, used up far more than our fair share of fossil fuels. The other 7 billion people have a right to switch on at least one light bulb and own a moped to drive to work. Yes, we will have to give up on our air commutes, Ibiza dance weekends, Champions League all inclusive tickets and right to travel the globe for a year after our studies. Or at least, we have to give up the right to do it on cheap fossil fuels because we reserve those for the developing countries. “Paris” can have no other outcome or the result will be a boiling earth.
So that puts some borders around my operating theatre for the following decade….
I am…
- going to help as many people as I can to switch from coal and gas to solar and heat pumps
- going to help change the mindset to (electric) two wheeled transport
- going to help rationalize companies in the services they offer
- going convince people that there is no such thing as a free lunch
But…. we just MIGHT look back in 10 years and think …
- Why did I waste two years of my life in traffic jams
- Why did I think that paying for energy was a life long duty
- Why didn’t I see how beautiful Europe was
- Did I really eat dead animals every day?
- Unbelievable that we successfully fought the obesity epidemic
Let’s at least try!