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| -rw-r--r-- | chapter1.md | 27 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | chapter2.md | 5 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | log.md | 55 |
3 files changed, 75 insertions, 12 deletions
diff --git a/chapter1.md b/chapter1.md index f77bda5..3f598e8 100644 --- a/chapter1.md +++ b/chapter1.md @@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ been partially rolled back. - Overfishing is intensifying - Green New Deal is nowhere to be seen - Water pollution has gone backwards (in the UK at least) -- Energy transition shows no signs of starting +- Energy transition shows few signs of starting (though consider obvious + objections: falling coal consumption in China, increasing renewable energy + production, car electrification) - Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing at an accelerating rate All these failures beg the question: why aren't the green movement's strategies @@ -276,13 +278,13 @@ bite, without state intervention to redistribute investment, the cost of carbon pricing is likely to fall hardest on the poorest. This is not politically sustainable. -This was decisively demonstrated in 2018, after French President Emmanuel Macron -attempted to raise fuel taxes, purportedly in an attempt to curb greenhouse gas -emissions \[EVIDENCE\]. This move triggered an enormous wave of protests across -France, symbolised by the protester's uniform, the _gilet jaune_. Despite -Macron's strong political position at the beginning of the protests, he was -forced to roll back the tax increases alongside other concessions to the -protesters \[EVIDENCE\]. +This was decisively demonstrated in 2018 \[ALSO GORDON BROWN'S FUEL PRICE +ESCALATOR?\], after French President Emmanuel Macron attempted to raise fuel +taxes, purportedly in an attempt to curb greenhouse gas emissions \[EVIDENCE\]. +This move triggered an enormous wave of protests across France, symbolised by +the protester's uniform, the _gilet jaune_. Despite Macron's strong political +position at the beginning of the protests, he was forced to roll back the tax +increases alongside other concessions to the protesters \[EVIDENCE\]. So, while smart market fixes might work in theory, we're still waiting for a credible vision for how they might be politically sustainable. Thus, here too, @@ -301,13 +303,15 @@ served as the main scapegoat of green rhetoric. For example, \[EXAMPLE\]. However, there's no particular reason to think that the fossil fuel industry is scientifically incompetent or unable to act rationally. In fact, fossil fuel companies are if anything astonishingly capable of mustering scientific and -technological resources to act rationally. \[EVIDENCE\] +technological resources to act rationally. \[EVIDENCE\] \[NB. RATIONAL != +PLANNING FOR PEAK OIL!\] Even the production of so-called 'fake science' can be seen as the result of the fossil fuel industry acting rationally on the basis of the scientific evidence. \[EVIDENCE\] As has been pointed out time and time again \[EVIDENCE\], the fossil fuel industry is following a path well-trodden by the tobacco industry, -who have long since proven that science is up for sale \[EVIDENCE\]. +who have long since proven that science is up for sale \[EVIDENCE\] \[SEE +DAVID'S COMMENTS, log#2026-06-09\]. The problem for the world is not that people aren't listening to the science, but rather that fossil fuel companies, and other business lobbies, have an @@ -331,7 +335,8 @@ environmental movement as the up-and-coming stage in human evolution [@cornerstones, p. 202]. Similarly, the word 'Anthropocene,' coined by \[WHO?\] in \[WHEN?\], describes the present time as one characterised by human dominion over the earth, as if the anti-green actions of some humans represents the -interests of everyone \[DEMONSTRATE SOMEONE ELSE HAS SAID THIS BEFORE\]. +interests of everyone \[DEMONSTRATE SOMEONE ELSE HAS SAID THIS BEFORE\]. \[NEED +TO SHOW CURRENCY OF 'ANTHROPOCENE'? NATURE ANTHROPOCENE BRIEFING?\] In reality, green rhetoric is primarily addressed to the Western middle classes. This makes sense, since the green movement has historically been heavily diff --git a/chapter2.md b/chapter2.md index a9be8a5..0ce5fdf 100644 --- a/chapter2.md +++ b/chapter2.md @@ -22,7 +22,10 @@ degenerate into despair. This has led many people to think that this catastrophism is the root cause of the problem. Some have even labelled this trope 'apocalypticism' and thus blamed the apocalyptic imagination, accusing apocalypse as being life-denying, -pessimistic, quietist, destructive, and hopeless. +pessimistic, quietist, destructive, and hopeless. They point out that while +catastrophic narratives often place the catastrophe in a sudden event in the +near future, green issues such as climate change are often gradual, continuous +events which have already started. In fact, the Apocalypse of St John is very different from catastrophism. @@ -4,6 +4,61 @@ title: Dissertation log author: Joe Carstairs --- +## 2026-06-09 + +I met David de Pomerai yesterday. He had only a few comments and thought I was +on track. + +I should address the issue, that climate change is not a one-off catastrophic +event like nuclear Armageddon, but something gradual and continuous. I've made a +note in chapter 2. + +David is expecting me to elaborate on the other aspects of apocalyptic language +apart from the end-of-the-world motif which green rhetors are missing. This is +already part of my plan for chapters 2 and 3, so I've made no changes. + +David raised an eyebrow at my unsubstantiated assertion (which needs filling out +anyway) that the 'energy transition' shows no sign of starting. He argues that +there are some signs, namely, falling coal consumption in China, electrification +of cars, and increasing production of renewable energy. I made a note of these +caveats. + +David liked my comment on the _gilets jaunes_, but added that a similar +spectacle had been seen in the UK under the Brown government, when he tried to +introduce a 'fuel price escalator' which had to be cancelled after protests from +lorry drivers. I've made a note to investigate later this in chapter 1. + +David thought that my comments on how the fossil fuel industry exploits science +for its interests and the comparisons to the tobacco industry were cogent, but +wanted detail. He thought the specific tactics mattered. In the case of the +tobacco industry, he said, companies created doubt with a 'blunderbuss' tactic, +admitting that smoking could contribute to lung cancer while investigating +hundreds of alternative possible contributory causes. He'd like to see me +explore whether the fossil fuel industry is currently using similar tactics. +I've made a note in chapter 1. + +David noted my comment that fossil fuel companies are acting rationally (which +as yet needs to be expanded and evidenced). He made a comment like 'they're +seeing the writing on the wall for fossil fuels,' suggesting he thinks that +'acting rationally' for fossil fuel companies means secretly planning for an end +to fossil fuel exploitation. I don't think this is true at all, noting that +fossil fuel companies have already set aside enormous amounts of future +exploitation potential, as documented in Naomi Klein's _This Changes +Everything_. I've made a note in chapter 1 to consider this when I expand the +point. + +On the term 'Anthropocene', David commented that it was never accepted as a +geological epoch, though it does have huge currency, noting the 'Anthropocene +Briefing' in _Nature_, and mentioning Paul Crutzen as the one who coined the +term. I've made a note in chapter 1. + +We discussed that I need to find examples of green success. He mentioned Luis de +Silva and the Earthshot prize. I also need to make the link between practical +success and successful rhetoric. This is a big ask, and is something I should +bear in mind as I progress through my dissertation. I'm aware I'm currently +short on examples; I may need to spend a couple of days doing more reading when +I get to chapter 3. + ## 2026-06-02 ### @{rootes-2016} |