How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

Look locally as well as nationally.

Making things (cement, steel, plastic) 31% Plugging in (electricity) 27% Growing things (plants, animals) 19% Getting around (planes, trucks, cargo ships) 16% Keeping warm and cool (heating, cooling, refrigeration) 7%

But cheap oil and expensive transmission lines aren’t the biggest drivers of the electricity Green Premium. The main culprits are our demand for reliability, and the curse of intermittency.

Broadly speaking, you can think of adaptation in three stages. The first involves reducing the risks posed by climate change, through steps like climate-proofing buildings and other infrastructure, protecting wetlands as a bulwark against flooding, and—when necessary—encouraging people to relocate permanently from areas that are no longer livable.

Make calls, write letters, attend town halls.

Run for office. Running

Know where they stand, ask them questions, and make clear that this is an issue that will help determine how you vote. Demand more funding for clean energy

Tip: Keep the Green Premiums in mind and ask whether they’re low enough for middle-income countries to pay.

Here’s a summary of all five tips: Convert tons of emissions to a percentage of 51 billion. Remember that we need to find solutions for all five activities that emissions come from: making things, plugging in, growing things, getting around, and keeping cool and warm. Kilowatt = house. Gigawatt = mid-size city. Hundreds of gigawatts = big, rich cou