Well, I can’t miss them because I’m in them. You can, but why would you?
Climate Crisis Mitigation: Implementing a Green New Deal and More
Union for Radical Political Economics: Paper Session
Friday, Jan. 3, 10:15am–12:15pm
Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego – La Jolla B
“Financial Bailout Spending Would Have Paid for Thirty Years of Climate Crisis Mitigation: Implementing a Global Green New Deal and Marshall Plan” – Ron Baiman, Benedictine University
“Green New Deal: Interdisciplinary Heterodox Approaches” – Mathew Forstater, University of Missouri–Kansas City; Fadhel Kaboub, Denison University; Michael Murray, Bemidji State University
“The Climate Crisis and the Green New Deal: The Issue Is the Issue, After All” – Peter Dorman, Evergreen State College (emeritus)
Chair: Ron Baiman
Socialism in the Twenty-First Century
Union for Radical Political Economics: Paper Session
Saturday, Jan. 4, 2:30–4:30pm
Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego – Coronado E
“Integrating Long-Term and Short-Term Participatory Planning” – Robin Hahnel, American University (emeritus); Allison Kerkhoff, University of British Columbia
“Stable Job or iPhones? The Dilemma of Innovation in Socialism” – David Kotz, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Mihnea Tudoreanu, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
“Information Technology and the Socialist Mode of Production: A Simulation of the Point Allocation System” – Daniel Saros, Valparaiso University
“Social Equity Funds in a Pluralist Socialism” – Peter Dorman, Evergreen State College (emeritus)
Chair: Robin Hahnel
For those of you who have registered for this conference, both of my papers are now available on the ASSA’s app. Anyone else can click on the links for the two papers: Green New Deal and Social Equity Funds.
I wouldn’t be missing them but couldn’t make arrangements this year. The full programme is here.
Enjoy San Diego!
Carbon capture technology: end global warming – even reverse it — for 5% of GDP with reasonably lo-tech process – once the price to goes down to $100 a ton?
According to a Businessweek article, worldwide we add 34 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Said article says Squamish Engineering, in B.C., Canada expects to launch a plant that should remove a million tons a year from the atmosphere, located somewhere in the Permian Basin in Texas. Squamish says it can do it for $200 a ton.
My back-of-the-envelope calculates that, when the price reaches $100 a ton, then, worldwide we can keep earth cool for $3.4 trillion a year – less than 5% of world GDP. US kick-in be about one trillion – out of $20 trillion GDP. That figure would grow as US economy grows – but: for every trillion of growth only additional $50 billion would go for removal, leaving us $950 billion ahead: set for the life of the planet.
(closest to a link I could find) https://www.magzter.com/article/Business/Bloomberg-Businessweek/A-Big-Step-for-the-Sky-Vacuums
Even if we could switch worldwide to 50% renewables today, that might only amount to 5% of needs 100 years from now when growing prosperity and populations might need 10X more. Can we really expect to do that with sun and wind?
The latter is why I thought nuclear was the only way to go – the physics; wouldn’t want to think about the economic and (mostly?) political barriers. Then, I read there may not be enough water in the world available for the massive hydro needs of reactors – and that is only at today’s level of power needs.
https://prospect.org/greennewdeal/the-tantalizing-nuclear-mirage/
Thermonuclear? 50 years from now? Same econ and pol barriers?
Can we essentially pull all the air in the atmosphere through carbon capture plants. Maybe. Businessweek article depicts species of three that grows fully in 10 years and can remove 103 tons of carbon per acre per year. My calculation that amounts to half a million square miles of planting. Carbon capture plants should be able to interface the same volume of air I would think.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-08-02/we-already-have-the-world-s-most-efficient-carbon-capture-technology
Thing is: no impossible (?) political hassle trying to get everybody to switch over to renewable/nuclear — no radical change of econ/pol life. Assuming it works, just develop the technology as fast as possible and put it to work as fast as it finally gets through to all that we don’t want 120 degrees in the shade in the winter in Chicago – no longer any motivation deficit at some point along the Celsius/Fahrenheit scale. And assuming we can make it work, we can potentially even dial the temperature back if we want to badly enough.
Peter:
I look forward to reading your papers. Would love to be there; but on short notice, it is difficult to do so.