Urban growth rates in Qatar and China leave Friedman skeptical about climate change mitigation 11

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1. 

   odograph Posted 9:05 am
   20 Sep 2007

   i just read that piece thereand popped back over to see if gristmill had picked it up yet ;-)
   I think Tom is going to enjoy (and rue) some network effects under the new regime.
   On the article ... of course it is possible that he is correct, though higher energy prices (which all this consumption will bring) should encourage everyone toward those compact fluorescents and hybrids.

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2. 

   odograph Posted 9:08 am
   20 Sep 2007

   ohWe might also count a bit on our human bias toward cooperation.
   I've been reminded this week of a book I read some time back ... "Cheating Monkeys, Citizen Bees" by Lee Dugatkin.  
   Now, we are not cooperative like naked mole rats, probably for reasons Dugatkin describes ... but neither are we quite as independent as the mythical lonesome cowboy (or the mythical economic actor).

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3. 

   Jones Posted 9:48 am
   20 Sep 2007

   He's got a point,but it's buried beneath layer upon layer of histrionics. And I already knew it anyway. There's really very little of any interest, or intelligence, in this piece.

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4. 

   sunflower Posted 9:57 am
   20 Sep 2007

   All push and no pull.People with money should be supporting people with technology.
   And people with money are saying this to people with technology.
   Empty words.  What a colossal waste of precious time.

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5. 

   Delay And Deny Posted 12:19 pm
   20 Sep 2007

   He Gets It Right
   
   He knows what he's talking about.
   We're not gonna emerge from this unless we invent the order of magnitude next generation energy source.
   
   John Bailo
   
   
   Sutext:

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6. 

   Biodiversivist Posted 1:40 pm
   20 Sep 2007

   I think it is unlikely we are going to get out ofthis without a horrific population reset and the completion of the sixth extinction event. But, because I could be wrong, I will enjoy the intellectual challenge of trying to avoid both and will keep trying simply because I see no other option. Never give up.
   
   In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

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7. 

   caniscandida Posted 4:38 pm
   20 Sep 2007

   Remember Crazy Horse"Never give up": right, BioD, point the way.
   As the venerated late-19th-century Oglala Lakota chief Crazy Horse is quoted as having said on the morning before an expected battle, "Today is a good day to die."  Victory may be unlikely; even survival may be unlikely.  But those are worries of secondary importance.  What matters most is whether we shall fight as bravely and perduringly as we can, with never a thought of giving quarter.
   
   Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.

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8. 

   justlou Posted 10:58 pm
   20 Sep 2007

   The IronyWhile reading Friedman's column a few days ago I was thinking about what is driving much of that growth -- the globalization that Friedman has championed to bring the world up to American's living standards.  I think Friedman was an early advocate of our invading Iraq too.  

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9. 

   JMG Posted 12:13 am
   21 Sep 2007

   The "in the pipeline" memeInteresting suggestion that cellulosic ethanol is "in the pipeline."  How is something that no one is doing commercially "in the pipeline?"  Are personal jetpacks "in the pipeline?"  I saw a film of one once.  And I saw a display about a flying car in the Seattle airport years ago -- is this, too, "in the pipeline?"
   Plants spent billions of years evolving to keep their cells intact against invaders and parasites.  Why does anyone think destroying those cells and converting them into alcohol will ever be cheap.
   I raise this objection because the belief in the pipeline that will eventually deliver biofuels is what allows politicians and transportation planners to avoid confronting the need to shift away from automobility and carburban planning.
   What's all too likely to be in the pipeline before too long, thanks to the ethanomaniacs, is coal-to-liquids--because when the oil prices crunch the unprepared economy, we're going to find out that Americans are quite willing to condemn future generations to Tropical Planet to avoid paying $10/gal (in real dollars -- which might be $25 in nominal dollars at the rate we're going).
   
   Save the world: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions 5% annually.

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10. 

    GreyFlcn Posted 1:59 am
    21 Sep 2007

    Could someone please cover this report?Speaking of pesimissism.
    From the nobel prize winner scientist who gave us the ozone theory, we now have a new report on the impacts of laughing gas (N2O) on biofuels.
    Virtually all current biofuels studies actively try to IGNORE N2O as if it didn't exist.
    This study finds that if you include N2O that virtually all biofuels are worse than gasoline in direct emissions over their lifecycle.
    And that when you include the indirect emissions, biofuels can be wholely dismissed entirely.
    This is a pretty monumental report!
    http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/09/study-n2o-emiss.h ...
    
    http://bioage.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/unca ...

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11. 

    GreyFlcn Posted 2:13 am
    21 Sep 2007

    AhHere's a better link
    http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/11191/2007/acpd- ...
    http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/11191/2007/acpd- ...
    http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/11191/2007/acpd- ...

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