Why Renewables and Green New Deals Will Solve Nothing:
Using history, physical reality, and human evolution to envision an effective response to Climate Change and Ecological Collapse
Joe Moncarz (September 2019)
| pamphlet_-_renewables_solve_nothing.pdf |
It's physically impossible
Renewable energies such as solar panels and wind turbines require huge amounts of metals and rare earth metals. There are not enough accessible metals on the planet. As a recent report commissioned for the Dutch government states:
“The current global supply of several critical metals is insufficient to transition to a renewable energy system.” (https://www.metabolic.nl/publications/metal-demand-for-renewable-electricity-generation-in-the-netherlands/)
Fossil fuels are the most concentrated and easily-exploited source of energy humans have ever found. There is no replacement. (Nikiforuk 2014)
Renewables are totally reliant on fossil fuels
Solar panels and wind turbines can only be made with fossil fuels. Mining, steel-making, and cement are all completely dependent on fossil fuels.
Therefore, any increase in production of renewables causes an increase in fossil fuel use.
Since solar and wind are intermittent (the sun is not always shining and the wind is not always blowing) then shortfalls in electricity production must be maintained by fossil fuels.
Renewables will increase ecological destruction
All civilizations destroy the land around them through overpopulating beyond what the land can support. Every human requires land for food and shelter. More humans means more wild land has to be destroyed to support them. It doesn't matter what our 'ecological footprint' is.
There is only so much space on the planet, and only so much biomass. More humans means less of everything else: less trees, less elephants, less tigers, less dolphins, etc. This is basic ecology.
If women averaged only one child, global population would decrease to 6 billion by 2070 and less than 4 billion by 2100. If we don't willingly choose to do this, nature will do it to us.
It ignores capitalism and corporations
Renewables and Green New Deals do not fully question and challenge capitalism. 'Socialist' solutions are mostly forms of state capitalism which do not question centralization, industry, overpopulation, patriarchy, human superiority, cities, modern technology, and civilization (see below).
It ignores patriarchy
Patriarchy means men dominating women. All civilizations are patriarchal and based on un-ending war and violence. When men dominate women, they also dominate nature – and destroy it.
It ignores human superiority
If we believe we need energy, then we must exploit the land and others to get it. Only the belief that humans are superior to all other life forms can enable this behavior. All civilizations are based on human superiority, and all civilizations destroy the land that supports them. (Jensen 2016)
It ignores civilization
Civilization is only 6,000 years old. It means living in cities, dependent on agriculture (only 10,000 years old) and importing food into the city. That means more and more surrounding land must be deforested and cultivated to support the city. All our major problems are caused by civilization: patriarchy, child abuse, inequality, poverty, hunger and malnutrition, mental illness, depression, prisons, police, slavery, armies, unending war, hierarchy, pollution, climate change, and ecological devasatation. Most of humanity, for the entire history of civilizations, have been either starving or on the edge of starvation. (Ponting 2007) And all civilizations destroy themselves. (Diamond 1987,2005)
Keep in mind that humans have been on the planet for two million years. We don't need civilization.
It ignores the sick culture that needs power!
What do we need all this power for, anyway? For toasters, cars, movie theaters, cell phones, video games, laptops, hair dryers, casinos, cruise ships, airplanes, plastics, zoos, schools, corporations, and two-dollar shops! All these require destroying the planet. We don't need them.
None of these things increase health, happiness or well-being.
They are all based on ecological destruction and violence.
Our 4 Biggest Obstacles
1. Our dependency on governments, belief in voting and begging politicians
2. Our addiction to modern technology
3. Our belief in 'civilization' as an improvement on human health, happiness and well-being.
4. Our fear of what really needs to be done: Effectively dealing with Climate Change and stopping the ecological destruction requires shutting down the global economy and reducing consumption by 95% - this will NEVER be allowed to happen by the elite and those in power. They will use unimaginable violence on us to maintain business as usual. We have to deal with that.
Solutions
What is the only sustainable way of life that humans have ever known? The way we lived for two million years BEFORE civilization. (Diamond 1987; Sahlins 2009) As hunters and gatherers:
Living local, small-scale, immersed in nature, relying on our own two hands and the hands of our friends, families and community, without hierarchies and without seeking to accumulate a surplus
Sources and Further Reading:
Renewable energies such as solar panels and wind turbines require huge amounts of metals and rare earth metals. There are not enough accessible metals on the planet. As a recent report commissioned for the Dutch government states:
“The current global supply of several critical metals is insufficient to transition to a renewable energy system.” (https://www.metabolic.nl/publications/metal-demand-for-renewable-electricity-generation-in-the-netherlands/)
Fossil fuels are the most concentrated and easily-exploited source of energy humans have ever found. There is no replacement. (Nikiforuk 2014)
Renewables are totally reliant on fossil fuels
Solar panels and wind turbines can only be made with fossil fuels. Mining, steel-making, and cement are all completely dependent on fossil fuels.
Therefore, any increase in production of renewables causes an increase in fossil fuel use.
Since solar and wind are intermittent (the sun is not always shining and the wind is not always blowing) then shortfalls in electricity production must be maintained by fossil fuels.
Renewables will increase ecological destruction
- Through Mining – all metals must be mined, and all mining is extremely destructive
- Through production of toxic chemicals – all extraction, production and manufacture relies on toxic chemicals, which all end up in the land, water and air
- Through reliance on fossil fuels
- There is a limited supply of fossil fuels and demand is increasing. Thus, increasing wars will be fought to control remaining supplies. Wars are incredibly destructive.
- Wars require militaries, which require manufacturing, which is all completely dependent on fossil fuels
- Solar 'farms' alter micro-climates and block out the sun from supporting life (just as roads and buildings physically block the sun from supporting the growth of life on the land below). All the land that will be covered in solar panels will, in effect, be killed.
- Wind farms kill birds, are noisy, cause health effects on humans, and require vast amounts of cement, steel and rare earth metals
All civilizations destroy the land around them through overpopulating beyond what the land can support. Every human requires land for food and shelter. More humans means more wild land has to be destroyed to support them. It doesn't matter what our 'ecological footprint' is.
There is only so much space on the planet, and only so much biomass. More humans means less of everything else: less trees, less elephants, less tigers, less dolphins, etc. This is basic ecology.
If women averaged only one child, global population would decrease to 6 billion by 2070 and less than 4 billion by 2100. If we don't willingly choose to do this, nature will do it to us.
It ignores capitalism and corporations
Renewables and Green New Deals do not fully question and challenge capitalism. 'Socialist' solutions are mostly forms of state capitalism which do not question centralization, industry, overpopulation, patriarchy, human superiority, cities, modern technology, and civilization (see below).
It ignores patriarchy
Patriarchy means men dominating women. All civilizations are patriarchal and based on un-ending war and violence. When men dominate women, they also dominate nature – and destroy it.
It ignores human superiority
If we believe we need energy, then we must exploit the land and others to get it. Only the belief that humans are superior to all other life forms can enable this behavior. All civilizations are based on human superiority, and all civilizations destroy the land that supports them. (Jensen 2016)
It ignores civilization
Civilization is only 6,000 years old. It means living in cities, dependent on agriculture (only 10,000 years old) and importing food into the city. That means more and more surrounding land must be deforested and cultivated to support the city. All our major problems are caused by civilization: patriarchy, child abuse, inequality, poverty, hunger and malnutrition, mental illness, depression, prisons, police, slavery, armies, unending war, hierarchy, pollution, climate change, and ecological devasatation. Most of humanity, for the entire history of civilizations, have been either starving or on the edge of starvation. (Ponting 2007) And all civilizations destroy themselves. (Diamond 1987,2005)
Keep in mind that humans have been on the planet for two million years. We don't need civilization.
It ignores the sick culture that needs power!
What do we need all this power for, anyway? For toasters, cars, movie theaters, cell phones, video games, laptops, hair dryers, casinos, cruise ships, airplanes, plastics, zoos, schools, corporations, and two-dollar shops! All these require destroying the planet. We don't need them.
None of these things increase health, happiness or well-being.
They are all based on ecological destruction and violence.
Our 4 Biggest Obstacles
1. Our dependency on governments, belief in voting and begging politicians
2. Our addiction to modern technology
3. Our belief in 'civilization' as an improvement on human health, happiness and well-being.
4. Our fear of what really needs to be done: Effectively dealing with Climate Change and stopping the ecological destruction requires shutting down the global economy and reducing consumption by 95% - this will NEVER be allowed to happen by the elite and those in power. They will use unimaginable violence on us to maintain business as usual. We have to deal with that.
Solutions
- Don't worry about personal lifestyle/consumer choices – they have no effect
- Organize locally, start an affinity group, adopt security culture and consider all tactics
- This society's sources of power (fossil fuel, nuclear, renewable, etc.) must all be shut down
- The social arrangement known as civilization must be dismantled and replaced
- Be prepared for those in power to use violence (as they always do)
What is the only sustainable way of life that humans have ever known? The way we lived for two million years BEFORE civilization. (Diamond 1987; Sahlins 2009) As hunters and gatherers:
Living local, small-scale, immersed in nature, relying on our own two hands and the hands of our friends, families and community, without hierarchies and without seeking to accumulate a surplus
Sources and Further Reading:
- Churchill, Ward. (2017). Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America. PM Press.
- Diamond, Jared. (2005). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Penguin Books.
- Diamond, Jared. (1987, May). “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race”. Discover Magazine. Retrieved from http://discovermagazine.com/1987/may/02-the-worst-mistake-in-the-history-of-the-human-race
- Fisher, Travis and Fitzsimmons, Alex. (2013 Oct 23). “Big Wind’s Dirty Little Secret: Toxic Lakes and Radioactive Waste”. Right Side News. Retrieved from https://stopthesethings.com/2013/11/08/wind-power-the-poisoned-chalice/
- Fitzner, Eric. (2018 Dec 5). “The environmental impacts of solar and wind energy”. Retrieved from https://www.earth.com/news/environmental-impacts-solar-wind-energy/
- Friedemann, Alice. (2019 Feb 14). “46 Reasons why wind power can not replace fossil fuels”. Retrieved from http://energyskeptic.com/2019/wind/
- Friedemann, Alice. (2019 July 2). “Why solar power can’t save us from the coming energy crisis”. Retrieved from http://energyskeptic.com/2019/why-solar-power-cant-save-us-from-the-coming-energy-crisis/
- Gelderloos, Peter. (2013). The Failure of Nonviolence: From the Arab Spring to Occupy. Left Bank Books.
- Huessemann, Michael and Joyce Huessemann. (2011). Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us or the Planet. New Society Publishers.
- Jensen, Derrick. (2006). Endgame, Volume One: The Problem of Civilization. Seven Stories Press.
- Jensen, Derrick. (2016). The Myth of Human Supremacy. Seven Stories Press.
- McMillan, Stephanie. (2015). Capitalism Must Die! A Basic Introduction to Capitalism: What it is, Why it Sucks, and How to Crush it. Idees Nouvelles, Idees Proletairiennes.
- Nikiforuk, Andrew. (2014). The Energy of Slaves: Oil and the New Servitude. Greystone Books.
- Ponting, Clive. (2007). A New Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations. Penguin.
- Sadasivam, Naveena. (2019 April 17).“Report: Going 100% renewable power means a lot of dirty mining”. Grist. Retrieved from https://grist.org/article/report-going-100-renewable-power-means-a-lot-of-dirty-mining/
- Sahlins, Marshall. (2009). "Hunter-Gatherers: Insights from a Golden Affluent Age". Retrieved from http://pacificecologist.org/archive/18/pe18-hunter-gatherers.pdf
- Scott, James C. (2017). Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. Yale University Press.
- Shellenberger, Michael. (2018 May 23). “If Solar Panels Are So Clean, Why Do They Produce So Much Toxic Waste?” Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2018/05/23/if-solar-panels-are-so-clean-why-do-they-produce-so-much-toxic-waste/#84ec399121cc
- Trainer, Ted. (2010). Renewable Energy Cannot Sustain a Consumer Society. Springer.
- Zehner, Ozzie. (2012). Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism. University of Nebraska Press.
- Zerzan, John. (2018). A People's History of Civilization. Feral House.