#Carbon #Removal Isn’t the #Solution to #Climate #Change
source: https://newrepublic.com/article/165996/carbon-removal-cdr-ipcc-climate-change
"But part of the reason we are about to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius is that these scenarios have acted as self-fulfilling prophesies. The scenarios have created the whole idea of carbon removal to show policymakers how we could continue to use #fossil #fuels and, supposedly, still hit our climate targets by 'reversing' global heating with massive amounts of CDR #technology. Instead of modeling how to stop using #coal, #oil, and #gas in time to halt warming directly, they have told policymakers 'we need CDR,' offering maps that have led us right to the levels of #warming we will see in the coming decades."
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"The models aren’t pricing in the risk that CDR might fail. Nor do they price the risks of the way that building and deploying planetary-scale CDR might compete with other industries or constrain energy supplies. They don’t consider the possibility that global heating might lead to fire or flood destroying bioenergy crops, making CDR itself more expensive and difficult. The integrated assessment models also assume that the economy is and will remain at full capacity, frictionless, and cost-optimized. And they take for granted the economy will continue to grow exponentially despite global #heating, because they estimate climate damages will cost only a few percentage points on the margins. And so they imagine that everyone will be richer later this century, which allows them to find that removing carbon dioxide later will be relatively cheaper than phasing out fossil fuels now."
#co2 #emissions #news #politics #economy #crisis #environment #pollution #future #world #earth #fail #problem
