Global warming/climate change is real. It's not a debate. It's a reality. Even Trump knows this. He won't tell you this. But you can see from his behavior and actions.
With climate change advancing faster than scientists anticipated, we are at a fork in the road. Which fork, which path will we take?
One fork leads to greater conservation efforts, a move away from the damage done by fossil fuels and towards alternative fuel sources that are less harmful to the planet. It requires science and international cooperation. It may result in energy sources that are more universal but less profitable to the multinational corporations.
Some nations are striving that way. But, clearly, the United States is not.
They have chosen a different fork. This fork leads to...
Resource Wars!
In that scenario, we do not change or evolve. We do not develop (or prioritize) energy alternatives. We double down on the fossil fuels that are destroying us. We use our strength and power to take what we want.
It is not to benefit the nations we are robbing. It really does not even benefit us. What it does is enrich the multinational oil companies. What it does is increase the wealth and power of the billionaire class. It enriches the Trump family.
The damage it does to the planet is not their concern. They see it as a problem for another generation. Their plan is to take advantage of the planetary changes to enrich themselves.
It will take a lot of moolah to survive what's coming, and they will have it in spades.
Stripping Venezuela of its terrible dictator is one thing. Running Venezuela is another. The trump administration has made it clear that the priority is resource exploitation, not the democratic liberation of the Venezuelan people. The Nobel Prize winner, Machado, whose opposition candidate won the last election (but was denied victory), has been deemed "too unpopular" to be allowed to take control. This is by the man whose popularity in this country is hovering around 35%, and will most likely rocket further downward.
It's not just the oil; it will take a lot of time and investment to have any impact on world oil supply or price. It's the rare-earth elements that the billionaire tech bros drool over. This AI revolution comes at a high cost, in its incredible consumption of water and electricity, and rare earth elements.
Speaking of water, the resource wars over fuel will seem minuscule compared to the fight over dwindling supplies of fresh water. Oh, Lord, I would not want to be living in Phoenix, Arizona.
A super reveal of how much the Trump administration accepts climate change is the incredible lust for Greenland. As the glaciers and permafrost melt, more and more resources will be discovered. Greenland will be a vast treasure trove for the wealthy elite.
There can be no doubt that we have taken the wrong fork in the climate change road. In a contest between a dangerously altered Earth and an all-out cooperative mitigation effort, it is incredible how much the scent of money can steer people away from decency.
Nothing is going to get the US off this path for the next three years. Even if Trump is replaced, they'll still control everything. Vance is a billionaire bro B-boy. Midterms won't matter. They don't need Congress to do what they want.
I'm sorry, this isn't a feel-good post. Even if Americans wake up, it is much too late. At some point, we can reverse course, back up, and get on the right fork in the road, one that leads to conservation and science-based solutions.
I'm not optimistic.
