Corporations Are Not Going to Save Us From Climate Disruption

[KurtNYC]

1. A lot of focus on what WON'T work. Perhaps some balance would be provided by looking at what IS

Major insurance companies suing to force action:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/19/climate-change-get-ready-or-get-sued/

Youth have standing to sue for action on climate change and are proceeding:
http://billmoyers.com/2014/04/28/young-people-are-taking-the-government-to-court-over-its-failure-to-address-climate-change/

Billionaire Richard Branson continues his crusade and Carbon War Room, announcing a new initiative aimed at using better tech and practices to reduce emissions from diesel trucking:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2014/02/25/richard-branson-launches-a-green-energy-plan-for-the-caribbean/

The (billionaire) Rockefellers divesting from petroleum, $50 billion so far (!?):
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-22/companies-pledging-action-as-leaders-set-to-talk-climate.html

USDA and US farmers adopting no-till practices (less pesticide and petroleum use, less soil erosion, better water retention), 35% of US farming now no-till and rising:
http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/usda-report-on-no-till-farming/

Birth rates world-wide are declining. China now in year 35 of "one-child" policy:
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/01/world_population_may_actually_start_declining_not_exploding.html

Massive adoption of solar energy on-going.

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Lots of other areas for progress that need our help. A big one is efficiency. Efficiency is shunned by economies that are addicted to growth. Efficiency may reduce manufacturing jobs, commodity prices, tax base, etc so it is not high on the list for governments and those who want their numbers to go up constantly and forever but efficient use of energy will be key to maintaining our standard of living while addressing climate change in a meaningful way. Higher MPG, less plastic, more durability, and less miles driven all have the benefit of putting less carbon in the air but we measure GDP and "success" by how many cars are sold, houses built and hours worked so efficiency seems at odds with the GDP scoreboard.