Having a global perspective, a bigger-picture view, is a tremendous asset for a leader, especially a leader committed to solutions to Climate Change. Take, for example, our approach to the culture war our country is currently enduring, and how that war often creeps into the climate situation.
It turns out that the war may not even be necessary, no matter which side you’re on.
And why is that? Because there’s a shocking truth at work here: The outcomes of conflicts like these are usually decided by practical considerations like cost and efficacy, and not so much by counting up Facebook likes and passionate speeches. I say shocking, because I’m a person who operates from principle and some sense of right and wrong; and I think most people involved in this culture war, on BOTH sides, are wired that way. The more liberal folks want to save the planet for future generations; the more conservative ones feel that we’ve over-hyped or misunderstood the science, and that we’re surrendering our time-tested values and freedoms. So, it’s really hard to accept that practicality might beat out principle.
Let’s look at a few examples.
When electric streetlights first emerged in the late 19th century, people fought them. Robert Louis Stevenson saw the electric street light as a ‘lamp for a nightmare’ compared to the ‘biddable domesticated stars’ provided by gaslight. And… I’d say he had an interesting point. But over time the superior economics, safety, and overall efficacy of the electrics carried the day.
A few years ago, we watched as LED lights slowly overtook incandescents and CFLs. Some people understandably liked the warm hue from incandescent, so they first fought CFLs and then LEDs. But again, superior energy efficiency, longer lifetime, controllable color and lower overall cost triumphed, and the war became moot.
Today, there’s a battle raging on the energy front: fossil vs. renewable. Fossil has the deep advantages of a well-established infrastructure, easy familiarity for nearly everybody, and a powerful lobby. But even now renewables are revealing advantages:
- People are waking up to the toxicity of methane emissions in their homes from their gas cooktop…do we really want to poison ourselves with that stuff? Induction cooking and electric heat pumps don’t have that problem.
- Electric vehicles are the fastest growing segment of the auto industry…sure, we need the charging station infrastructure, but it’s coming. And EV mileage per dollar is more than twice as good as gasoline-powered cars.
- Solar and wind electricity are already cheaper than coal-fired electricity, even with the massive subsidies ($20 billion per year) the fossil industry receives.
I think we Globally Conscious Leaders need to take a deep breath, step back from the battle a bit, and do what we can to facilitate the best, most practical and cost-effective solutions. In this case, it’s both the life-affirming and the pragmatic thing to do.
