Tzeporah Berman_ Fossil Fuel Expansion & Energy Consumption

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Tzeporah Berman: The Problem With Ramping Up Fossil Fuel Production & Expanding Energy Consumption According to the Stockholm Resilience Centre, "Human activities have pushed Earth beyond its Safe Operating Space. The planet's natural resilience is weakening: Global warming is accelerating, (and) ecosystems are showing clear signs of degradation." In the second of four programs arising from an interview with Tzeporah Berman, Chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, she explains that the problem is multifaceted, but two critical areas must be addressed: fossil fuel use and our rapidly expanding energy consumption. The Greatest Cause of Premature Death Tzeporah Berman: “My research makes it very clear to me that fossil fuel use and production is the greatest cause of premature death on the planet and the greatest threat to the majority of the world’s ecosystems.” Cortes Currents: “Prove it to me.” Tzeporah Berman: “Approximately eight million people die every year due to air pollution. Fossil fuels are the majority of that air pollution. Last year, the Lancet Countdown report said that, on average, five million people are dying every year from air pollution due to fossil fuels alone. “When you start adding climate impacts and deaths, the numbers skyrocket. We know now that one person is dying every minute on this planet due to lethal heat, and the primary cause of the dramatic increase in lethal heat is climate change. “Eighty-six percent of the carbon emissions currently trapped in our atmosphere — creating almost like a sweltering blanket around the Earth and causing climate change — come from three things: oil, gas, and coal.” Why Aren’t Renewables Reducing Global Emissions Faster? Cortes Currents: “Given that renewables are the fastest-growing energy sector, why aren’t we seeing more of an impact in terms of global emissions?” Tzeporah Berman: “We’re not seeing more of an impact in terms of global emissions even though investment in renewable energy today is double the investment in fossil fuels. Last year, there was $2 trillion invested in renewables and $1 trillion invested in fossil fuels. “We’re seeing dramatic growth in renewable energy, but we are also seeing continued growth in carbon pollution, emissions, and fossil fuel infrastructure. We can’t solve this just by building the good stuff. We have to stop building the bad stuff too. “What we often see is, for example, Mark Carney, our prime minister, saying, ‘We’re still going to move toward electrification. We’re going to eventually have a low-carbon economy by building more renewable energy and electrification.’ “You hear that a lot. That’s good — we need that infrastructure — but no one ever phased something out by building more of it, and that’s what we’re doing today. “Our country has committed internationally. In Dubai, at the climate change negotiations, 190 countries said, ‘Yes, we know we need to phase out fossil fuels, and that’s a priority.’ Now we’re saying we’re going to build more of them.”