Essay by Eric Worrall
According to Professor of Anthropology Ron Barrett, you don’t have to believe in climate action to benefit from renewable energy. But the professor ignored the important issue.
Can humans deal with climate change without trust? Medical history suggests that it is possible
Published: 10 July 2024 10:14 AEST
Ron Barrett
Professor of Anthropology, Macalester CollegeIronically, early germ theorists can tell us a lot about current attitudes toward climate change.
While researching a recent book on the emerging history of infection, I found many parallels between the early debates about the existence of microbes and the current debates about the existence of global warming.
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This happened in the last decades of the 19th century, when surgeons who rejected germs kept using Joseph Lister’s antiseptic techniques.
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In response to these claims, Lister stated:
“If one chooses to consider that septic matter is not the property of a living organism, but a so-called chemical fermentation that has no vitality… The practical point of view is the same as the germ theory, since it will study the same antiseptic treatment.
Lister is more concerned with saving lives than winning arguments. As long as the surgeons used the method, Lister did not care about correctness. When it comes to preventing infection, behavior rather than belief counts.
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Republicans are more likely to prioritize the economic benefits of renewable energy than Democrats, who tend to list global warming as a driving concern.
The economic benefits may explain why red states produce the most wind energy in America and why these three states are among the five largest producers of solar energy in the country. The adoption is linked to the geography of the wind and sun belt, where farmers see good results in generating power and a stable source of income to withstand fluctuations in the price of weather-sensitive crops. Life is a powerful motivator.
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Read more: https://theconversation.com/can-humanity-address-climate-change-without-believing-it-medical-history-suggests-it-is-possible-230936
I understand very well why people who do not believe in the climate crisis respond to economic incentives.
A decade ago, Anthony Watts discussed why he put solar panels on his own house.
The problem with Professor Ron Barrett’s theory of why those who take advantage of market-distorting subsidies would drive adoption is that renewable energy is not the solution to the world’s energy problems.
In the absence of affordable long-term energy storage, all renewable energy systems must be supported by a duplicate dispatchable energy system, which can be activated quickly when the renewable energy fails you – which it often does. The cost of maintaining two parallel systems – a fake renewable system, and a dispatchable system that produces power for days or weeks when renewable energy stops, this is what causes energy bills in countries and countries that receive renewable energy.
In Australia, threats that the next government will pull renewables subsidies and invest in nuclear have even appeared to dampen enthusiasm for investment. Renewable energy cannot compete with real energy, not even nuclear power.
Farmers’ efforts to fill their fields with renewable energy will only continue if taxpayer subsidies make them profitable. As subsidies dry up, so do profits and new installations.
The great surgeon Joseph Lister is one of my heroes. There’s a great documentary about Lister that I saw years ago when I was a kid (I can’t find the link sorry), which explains how Lister campaigned relentlessly, and made everyone in the hospital wash their hands and perform antiseptic and aseptic surgeries. after he realized all the harm that the transmission of poisonous material between patients has caused.
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