Nice! I needed a catchy term to describe the kind of deflect-distract-delay tactics used by the fossil fuel and plastic industries - especially in relation to their efforts to fight plastic regulation. "Hot Garbage" it is!!
I like the idea of calling this climate mis- and disinformation "hot garbage" specifically for the word "hot." I don't mind "climate change" as a catch-all term because it is so inclusive, but your phrase evokes the notion that the Earth is getting dangerously hot à la "global warming."
Emily - Not sure how else to bring to your attention a request I received today from HEATED: “Don't lose access to HEATED: Your credit card is expiring soon.” My card expires in 2026! Is this a scam? Thanks!
This may come as a surprise. But I think one of the major distortions is the insistence that "no one solution will work, we have to do a bit of everything". The numbers show that this is a severe mis-statement. And I think it confuses those who want to make a difference: "I'll do a little and recognize that it is not enough". I think the only way to get a big change is to get everyone focused on a couple of big goals, because all our efforts together CAN make them happen. And from that perspective, I think it is a fossil fuel strategy to prevent that. What are the top things? (A) we have to see clearly that the current plan of piecemeal installation of a few wind and solar farms can NOT get us anywhere near net zero. See it and move on! [A lot of the issue depends on lack of long distance transmission, and slow permitting. We can revisit if a big change happens in those areas.] (B) as far as I see it, Carbon Tax appears likely to be effective. We have to demand that all corporations pretending to net zero get behind it. (C) The main one nobody knows is the immediate support of green ammonia as a clean liquid fuel. If it were available and affordable everywhere, and able to fuel all existing energy processes (with retrofit kits), then anyone in the world could decarbonize their energy. The technology is there to make it cheaply and supply it widely, but that won't happen until a country, or a state, or a city demands it. In summary, there are two action items, and I think either alone MIGHT be able to get a region to Net Zero. (And success in one location can encourage replication in others.)
A beginner's guide to hot garbage
Nice! I needed a catchy term to describe the kind of deflect-distract-delay tactics used by the fossil fuel and plastic industries - especially in relation to their efforts to fight plastic regulation. "Hot Garbage" it is!!
I need to get inoculated. Thanks for the great, informative article.
I like the idea of calling this climate mis- and disinformation "hot garbage" specifically for the word "hot." I don't mind "climate change" as a catch-all term because it is so inclusive, but your phrase evokes the notion that the Earth is getting dangerously hot à la "global warming."
Emily - Not sure how else to bring to your attention a request I received today from HEATED: “Don't lose access to HEATED: Your credit card is expiring soon.” My card expires in 2026! Is this a scam? Thanks!
This may come as a surprise. But I think one of the major distortions is the insistence that "no one solution will work, we have to do a bit of everything". The numbers show that this is a severe mis-statement. And I think it confuses those who want to make a difference: "I'll do a little and recognize that it is not enough". I think the only way to get a big change is to get everyone focused on a couple of big goals, because all our efforts together CAN make them happen. And from that perspective, I think it is a fossil fuel strategy to prevent that. What are the top things? (A) we have to see clearly that the current plan of piecemeal installation of a few wind and solar farms can NOT get us anywhere near net zero. See it and move on! [A lot of the issue depends on lack of long distance transmission, and slow permitting. We can revisit if a big change happens in those areas.] (B) as far as I see it, Carbon Tax appears likely to be effective. We have to demand that all corporations pretending to net zero get behind it. (C) The main one nobody knows is the immediate support of green ammonia as a clean liquid fuel. If it were available and affordable everywhere, and able to fuel all existing energy processes (with retrofit kits), then anyone in the world could decarbonize their energy. The technology is there to make it cheaply and supply it widely, but that won't happen until a country, or a state, or a city demands it. In summary, there are two action items, and I think either alone MIGHT be able to get a region to Net Zero. (And success in one location can encourage replication in others.)