Climate change

I am burnt out from work today and can't really think too well, so this won't be too coherent but I wanted to talk about climate change a little bit.

It should come as no surprise to anyone reading this that I very much buy the scientific communities warning on climate change. While I do not believe this, or really anything, can wipe out humanity, I do think that I don't want to see a world where we do have to go to great lengths to survive from day to day, and that is the track we are on, Mad Max should not be a role model, and I don't want to live under a giant dome or something. Also mass extinctions are generally something to be avoided if possible.

A veritable shitload of the worlds nations signed an historic accord on climate change in Paris just a short time ago in an effort to change that, the USA has signed on which is great, and so far I haven't even seen any of the Republicans try to convince us that this accord is some secret way to get around American sovereignty or something ridiculous like that. I do fully expect congress to attempt to pass a resolution condemning the accord though.

It remains to be seen whether or not the accord will accomplish anything, nothing in it actually has the force of law or is even enforceable by any means other than self policing by the countries involved, what it does do is make a statement to the world that the powers that be are actually getting serious this time, and this is not actually an irrelevant concept, government preferences do a lot to guide large markets and if the world speaks and tells energy companies that they aren't going to be interested in coal all that much longer, then those energy companies will do two things, first they will get on the horn to their lobbyists and attempt to head the whole deal off, second they will get on the horn to their R and D departments and find out if anyone knows anything about reducing carbon emissions.

Perception drives markets, perhaps more than anything else does, and right now, hopefully, the perception is that old technologies are becoming unwanted, and that clean energy is going to be something that has a wider appeal than just Germany, or a couple American states, it will get stockholder attention.

Of course, this is all predicated on the governments actually doing something themselves, either funding research of their own, offering tax credits or other incentives, and of course, passing laws. So here in the States we might not see a ton of movement on this all that fast, I expect January of 2017 at the earliest honestly, unless Obama decides to break out the Executive Orders again, but I don't know exactly what he can do with that power.

Anyway, I am optimistic, and that is always nice to feel.

Now I go to bed, Muse is playing tomorrow so that should be fun, night!