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| - Yes, it´s the same pill as before. So? |
Excuse me, but what exactly is *new* in this "shocking" essay by Bill Gates, except some of the rhetoric used to sell it? It sounds as if Gates is proposing the same things everyone else has been calling for the past 30-odd years or so.
More "green" technology, including - wait for it - hydrogen, fusion, electric vehicles, carbon storage and capture, "green" steel, "green" airplane fuel, et cetera. He also calls for more economic growth. In other words, it´s just another tired old manifesto for "sustainable growth".
Gates constantly pitches his own projects throughout the essay (although I suppose *that* is inevitable) and at least implicitly criticize the Trump Administration for cutting US aid and pushing an anti-vaxx agenda. Will it work? Probably not, since fossil fuels are still cheaper, and any economic downturn will make governments less likely to subsidize the "green" sector.
So I suppose it´s possible that Bill Gates´ essay will prove to be symbolically important, marking a transition from weaponized doom-mongering to a more "realistic" rhetoric, correlating with governments scaling down their climate engagement for, ahem, realistic reasons. I suppose this also means that all the radical climate change activists will feel betrayed, and after a short period of desperate hyper-activism to drive home their point (think Extinction Rebellion) will pivot to some other political cause. Which most of them have probably done already anyway (Gaza).
I was actually quite disappointed that the whole thing was just another pitch for the Gates Foundation...
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