“It takes bits and pieces from leading establishment environmentalists to make the ecological case against climate alarmism and forced energy transformation. But taken together, the problems of wind, solar, and batteries are substantial and call for a mid-course correction from look-the-other-way, mention-and-run, wish-and-hope Big Green.”
Yes, she is a climate alarmist and supports forced (governmental) energy transformation to inferior, anti-ecological energies. But she has presented some common-sense observations about the climate crusade and agenda that offer hope about a mid-course correction toward human and ecological betterment.
Consider this recent article at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation which was brought to my attention on LinkedIn (via Ian McCoy), “Climate warrior Jane Goodall isn’t sold on carbon taxes and electric vehicles.” (April 13, 2024). Quotations from the CBC article follow in two areas: a carbon dioxide (CO2) tax and electric vehicles (EVs).
Carbon Dioxide Tax
World-renowned primatologist and climate activist Jane Goodall says carbon pricing schemes like the one Canada has deployed aren’t a silver bullet to solve the pressing threat of climate change…. Goodall said the jury’s out on whether levying a consumer price on emissions will meaningfully improve the climate picture over the long term.
Goodall, who just turned 90, said a carbon tax can seem punitive to consumers — making a measure to fight climate change seem like a costly chore. She said she also worries that the fight against climate change has been “politicized … causing people just not to listen” ….
“The problem with a climate tax is that … it doesn’t get to the root cause, which is fossil fuel emissions, emissions of methane from industrial farming,” she said. “So, in that sense, it’s not something I endorse.”….
Electric Vehicles
But she added she’s worried about the current crop of electric vehicles, which largely rely on lithium batteries. She welcomes EVs as a concept but said she fears that the global scramble to mine lithium is ruining parts of the natural environment.
“Huge areas are now being destroyed by mining for lithium,” she said. “It scars the natural world.”
Pointing to Serbia, where the prospect of lithium mining prompted anger from local activists, Goodall said there’s a risk that the rush to exploit the world’s lithium supply will damage the “pristine environment” and spark a backlash.
She also said the lithium mining and refining process requires “lots of water,” which is “tough in places where there’s not that much fresh water.”
“To me, that’s one of the big problems of electric vehicles,” Goodall said. “Apparently there are other ways of sourcing batteries other than lithium and that needs to be developed.”….
Final Comment
It takes bits and pieces from leading establishment environmentalists to make the ecological case against climate alarmism and forced energy transformation. But taken together, the problems of wind, solar, and batteries are substantial and call for a mid-course correction from look-the-other-way, mention-and-run, wish-and-hope Big Green. Jane Goodall, just as James Hansen, the father of the climate alarm, recently provided just this.