Tag Archives: Charles Goldman

The deadly myth of net zero

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“Rather than acknowledge the seriousness of our situation, we instead continue to participate in the fantasy of net zero. What will we do when reality bites? What will we say to our friends and loved ones about our failure to speak out now?

“The time has come to voice our fears and be honest with wider society. Current net zero policies will not keep warming to within 1.5°C because they were never intended to. They were and still are driven by a need to protect business as usual, not the climate. If we want to keep people safe then large and sustained cuts to carbon emissions need to happen now. That is the very simple acid test that must be applied to all climate policies. The time for wishful thinking is over.” Continue Reading →

Questioning Biden’s commitment to climate action

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Sometimes you get to see the big picture by studying little things. Not that the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is small potatoes, but Biden clearly, repeatedly, and emphatically stated his opposition to DAPL during the campaign in 2019.

Yet Biden refuses to stop the proposed expansion of DAPL. Work on DAPL’s pumping station near Cambridge, Iowa, is happening NOW. Once that work is finished, DAPL can double the flow of oil — doubling the damage to our climate and increasing the risk to our land and water.

So, yeah, I’m nervous — and skeptical, because if President Biden was telling the truth in 2019, he should have stepped in by now to stop this expansion. It can still be stopped, but time is running out, and Biden shows no sign of weighing in. Continue Reading →

“What you guys are doing is inspiring.” — Danny Lyon

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Danny’s a distinguished photographer, journalist, and film maker with award-winning work dating back to the 1960s civil rights struggle. He picks me up at camp in a battered old Volvo and we drive to the adobe house where he and his wife, Nancy, have lived for 38 years. “Most of this house was built by a single illegal Mexican worker named Eddie,” Danny says proudly. “And I like that it’s biodegradable. Someday, it’ll just be a big heap of mud.” Continue Reading →

C what I did here?

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Even as more and more of us get vaccinated and the danger of dying from COVID-19 shrinks, many Americans are stuck in survival mode, obsessing over the risks. That’s not to say we’re out of the woods and should abandon reasonable safety measures, but let’s put it in perspective: today, around 100 Americans will die in an automobile accident. Also today, somewhere between zero and one vaccinated American will die from COVID-19. Continue Reading →

Justin Brady: communications professional, non-Biden voter

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Most of my Trump voter conversations cover a lot of ground. With fellow podcaster and radio dude, Justin Brady, we focus on partisan politics. And I promise, Justin’s not at all as angry as he looks in that photo. (Really, Justin, you couldn’t have sent me a pic of you smiling while playing with a cute kitten?) Continue Reading →

Dave Funk: Retired Northwest Airlines Captain, Trump voter

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By several metrics, my interviews with Iowa Trump voters have gone well. The dialogue is good. We’re finding common ground. We’re dispelling the false notion that Trump voters are stupid. And on some fronts, I’m having my own views challenged.

What’s not coming together is clarity on the climate emergency. Take my conversation with Dave Funk. What to me are solid, irrefutable facts are, to Dave, either up for discussion or simply false. While I respect that, I also find it frustrating. Continue Reading →

Joel Kurtinitis: Columnist, Trump voter

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Iowans heard the lies over and over again during the DAPL fight. Once again, Big Oil can’t seem to tell the truth. The polar vortex had barely wrapped up its historic disruption of Texas’ power grid when fossil fuel’s spin room revealed the culprit: Windmills! Continue Reading →

Weslie Phipps: Farmer, Trump voter

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Weslie is the kind of guy you want on your side in a fight against a big, bullying corporation. He and I have found other areas of agreement, though choice of presidential candidates wasn’t one of them. Surprisingly, unlike many Trump supporters I talk with, Weslie was less enthusiastic about voting for Trump in 2020. Continue Reading →

Janet Clark: Author, Trump voter

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Like many voters, Janet believed the 2016 Democratic primary was rigged to assure Hillary Clinton’s victory. She was deeply disappointed that Sanders eventually endorsed Clinton. “I voted for Trump because, between him and Clinton, I felt he was the better of the two candidates — that and I think that both Clintons are extremely corrupt,” she says. Continue Reading →

Steve Hickenbottom: Organic farmer, Trump voter

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Regarding climate change, Steve says it’s definitely a concern. He’d like to see us invest in research to develop better batteries for electric cars. “Let’s start working on cars that get 100 miles per gallon. We’d burn less fuel, reduce the need for pipelines, and maybe slow climate change. But we can’t make the cure worse than the problem. Take Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) for instance. That was pushed, and now DEF is showing up in the water supply, and it’s toxic.”

Steve’s also concerned about coal-fired power plants: “Worldwide, I don’t think we’re the biggest problem. China is putting up hundreds of new coal plants. If we turn the US 100% green, we’re still not going to get the results we’re after. We’ve got to get the rest of the world on board.” Continue Reading →