Perhaps you do know that the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP28, just ended this week. The meeting was marred by some realistic talk from the fossil fuel industry about the likelihood that it was going to fade into the background anytime soon.
The graphic I have here was taken by me as I was just checking on my boat harbored in Mystic Connecticut. It always amazes me that you can see its position within about 20 feet in near real time due to its automatic positioning system (called AIS). Most vessels larger than 30 feet have one installed. And because of this tracking system, the Coast Guard rarely does Search & Rescue anymore. With AIS, they know where you are and perform rescue.
I took this screen shot as I was zooming out to check a course a friend was going to take and was once again astounded by the number of large boats crossing just about everywhere and/or fishing international waters. It is equally astounding to do this with commercial air traffic. And, I am flabbergasted by the number of trucks on the road.
The scale of worldwide commerce is just staggering. The idea that you are going to simply eradicate all these fossil-fueled vehicles in the near-term is ludicrous. Here is a live shot of commercial planes in the air.
Yet the politicians proclaim solar, wind, hydrogen, ammonia, and whatnot will save the planet.
What will save the planet is a sober assessment of this question: Why are all these vehicles doing what they are doing and what should we consider changing for the future.
You don’t hear that question at all do you? Why don’t you? That is the more important question.
