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In the last two days, I have been several uncomfortable times directly criticized for suggesting that we have no plans for dealing with climate change. As so often I rely on context to make clear what I am trying to say. In this case, my context has usually been “no plan to cut co2 emissions.” By which I mean no set of actual steps to get to reducing co2. I treat statements like “Replacing gas-driven cars with EVs will go a long way to cutting the co2” as a statement of hope, maybe even a goal. But it is not a plan. Hopes without plans are actionless. And we heard many climate hopes “such as electrify everything” with no accompanying or referenced plan of how to do this. I feel strongly that we must learn the difference, a difference so often by-passed by policymakers that are content to have a commission, or their own op-ed, state a poli
I went to Wikipedia and found this:
“A plan is a set of instructions for attaining a given objective.”
I take that to say that a policy is not a plan.
In that sense, the sense that I meant it, we have no plan. Small efforts such as wind and solar, instead of the hoped-for cutting of co2 actually added to the amount of carbon energy being used by society and hence increasing the amount of co2. The additional clean energy contribution is used in manufacturing of some kind and hence adds to coThose wind and solar efforts, while in the ballpark of cutting co2 does not get there and was no part of a plan. Following wiki the plan would have to lay out steps that if taken would achieve the goal/ We have not been presented with such a plan. We are surrounded by goals and policies but few if any adequate plans - set of steps - if taken, achieve substantial goals. The analysis part s missing.
This seems to me like very basic design and engineering practice. and policy world wisdom. The mistake is made, I am thinking, by people desperate to hold on to easy hopes to avoid facing the very uncomfortable facts which will require more detailed and critical thinking.