Capstone: GCC Class 24: Renewables and Remaking

1. POLS 405 Spring 2011 Fisher Capstone: GCCClass 24: Renewables and Remaking

2. Vids • Krupp, Earth: the Sequel • Horn, Unleashing the Future (intro) • Horn, Unleashing the Future (solar) • Horn, Unleashing the Future (biofuels) • Krupp and Horn, Interview 2008 (54m)

3. G2G(ch12): GCC Solutions As Medicine for other Crises • GCC “may prove for decades to be the umbrella for pursuing social justice and for remaking the economy.” (p149) • Four Short-term Crises • Global competitiveness: • US is “no longer on the cutting edge of a globalizing economy in which more and more of the action lies in a very innovative and high-tech China and E. Asia.” (p149) • Energy Independence (and security) • Oil wars and militarism: • traditional views of national security are outmoded, Oil wars, climate change, energy are the new threats to security. (p153) • Jobs and social justice (economic apartheid in the US): • top 1% own nearly 50% of the wealth in the US and bottom 90% own less than 10%. • Loss of the middle class, pensions for the low and middle class etc • Need “green collar jobs” (p159)

4. G2G(ch14): West and the Rest • Green globalization and a Global New Deal • Global systemic change is necessary  which means that we must change the relation between the West and the world. • We need to include long-term problems with an eye on short term crises, not complete focus on short term crises. • West is preoccupied with short term thinking and short term econ policies spread by Western hegemonic nations • “The hard truth for Americans is that US hegemony is now eroding under the pressures of multiple military, economic and political changes that have damaged US credibility and power. This weakening of the US economy and military, along with rapid growth in EU, China and Brazil, is already cracking the hegemonic world order and opening up possibilities for a global green system.” (p173) • Solutions: A Global Green Deal • 1. End US militarism; abolish military Keynesianism; reduce US military spending • 2. Implement a “green Tobin tax”: short term tax on on global currency bets and trading • 3. Cancel dirty debt in exchange for green development: $$ would pay back invest in green development • 4. Create a clean energy/technology commons: all publicly funding breakthroughs into the commons • 5. a Global Carbon tax: a progressive tax by nations, instead of cap and trade. Lester Brown argues for a $20/ton tax, increasing to $240/ton by 2020. • 6. Glocalism: shift as much production from the global level to the local levels

5. End of the Long SummerDianne Dumanoski • Why we must remake our civilization to survive on a volatile earth Foci of Book: • 1. “looks anew at the human story and sets forth an account radically different from the onward and upward progress narrative of the modern era. The source of hope lies not in the belief that humans are destined to achieve dominion but rather in the evidence that we are a stormworthy lineage that has managed to flourish on an increasingly volatile earth.” (p3) • 2. “also explores the challenge of living in a time of great uncertainty—a challenge our forebears faced repeatedly in their evolutionary passage—and what this moment requires of us. Above all else, it concerns “the obligation to endure.” (p3)

6. Theme of Action • Climate change is creating a turbulent and volatile world • It’s the end of the “long summer”—the 12,000 year stable climate system • “Nature is not like a mechanical escalator but like a leaping dragon”, so we must prepare for the worst even as we try to stop the continuing damage to the Earth. • “The only certain thing about the coming century is its immense uncertainty…” • Essentially, we have failed to halt climate change, we have already crossed critical thresholds, and it’s time to prepare for the turbulent changing world. • The “task then is to do our utmost to avoid the worst and, at the same time, figure out how to weather the change that is now unavoidable.” (p6)

7. Problem => solution • Need to abandon our notions of “progress”, the paradigm of economic growth • We must transform our global, must-keep-growing, too-big-to-fail economy and social systems. These systems prioritize the accumulation of financial capital over the generation of social capital. • Social capital transformation: enhance our capacity for trust and cooperation (“that helped our ancestors survive past calamities”). • Aim for survivability: go beyond adapting  we need to insulate and redesign our social and economic systems so they are more resilient. The aim here is to “safeguard human knowledge and institutions that give us the capacity to respond with imagination and flexibility in a changing world.” (pp. 8-9).