Optimism against frustation. Sustainable growth versus destructive consumption

Some mornings it's easy to get frustrated with the latest climate headlines. I reflect a bit on the day ahead and the goals and tasks I need to complete on that day, during that week, and then I think about the time farther ahead. But then I come back to the climate. It’s become an important part of my life. Everything revolves around it, quite literally actually; the more you understand it, the more you want to do whatever you can to help change it back. Does man have it in us to live as one with the Earth. To never take more then you put back? Is a coexistence with the planet that allows mankind and nature to thrive as one within the realm of possibility? I hope so. But we will need to take drastic actions before the positive feedback loop of man’s climate change unravels beyond our control.

It’s frustrating that so little has been done to truly address anthropogenic climate change. Why is it so hard to move forward? Why was there even a debate outside the scientific community in the first place? Because society is rooted in carbon dioxide and methane. Whether it’s from energy generated by combustion, or the methane produced by our herds of livestock. It’s almost like the blood of civilization since the industrial age is greenhouse gases. Our energy generation, our domesticated livestock, our transportation, our production of plastics, most of the wheels that drive us our rooted in global warming gases.

We were close once to a solution to the carbon world we created. The only truly viable abundant energy source on Earth can be achieved through nuclear energy. I wasn’t always a fan of it. But there is no other way. It is one of the only ways to shift to the next age. But something went wrong with this abundant energy source. Nuclear weapons and WWII. Uranium enriched for use in nuclear weapons was of the same isotope used by pressurized water reactors. We then moved forward with reactors inferior to those utilizing molten salts the thorium fuel cycle and Uranium 233.

There is some hope though for energy generation to evolve past carbon dioxide. One area of hope lies in fourth-generation nuclear reactors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_IV_reactor

I also have hope new types of solar technology will allow them to become efficient enough to have a significant impact on energy production.

The alternatives to carbon based energy production are there. They are growing more cost effective as well. We just need to have a stronger drive to complete the transition.