|
|
CLEANER GREENER AND TRANSPARENT
Tuesday, February 2, 2021 - daily column #6656
One year on for this pandemic, one month on for 2021 – how far have we come, how far do we have yet to go?
If we …
Fast-forward, not a century-on, but a decade:
My prediction, 10 yrs. out, world will be greener, cleaner, faster, and completely interconnected – so whether it’s computer viruses, corona-viruses, or some new thing brought us by space aliens, we will still have a fast-growing population.
As we move to new ways to feed more people while reducing pressure on land use, the world will continue to use 90 million barrels of oil every day, though we’ll be extracting it better, and burning it cleaner than ever imagined. We’ll be using far more natural gas, and shedding less methane. Cleaning up dirty environments will stabilize into a reliable slow-moving bit-by-bit industry without fanfare or politics – key elements being, we’ll be cleaning up faster than we are dirtying it …
The change we’ll see in a futuristic landscape will be healthier, wealthier, and wiser than ever – but one must wonder if the fears, phobias, conspiracies, and terrorism we see today will increase or decrease. I’m far less confident about those issues.
The answer, my friends, is not found in binge-watching anything, vaxing or anti-vaxing, or watching thought leaders on extreme right or extreme left polarize thinking. The middle may not hold, and everyone from 18-80 should be frightened, and fact-checking should become everyone’s mantra …
I don’t know what it will take for masses of people to take something seriously anymore. Is it news, social media, science, science-fiction, or conspiracy-theorists who believe technology giants and/or spy agencies are the invisible hand behind everything?
Finally, as much as politics, economics, science and money drive so many changes, we will largely stay on a path that the world gets better the more we hug our trees, hug each other, and embrace technology. I think we improve the world most but lifting people out of poverty, and we do that by lifting with educational help and pathways. The first world should spend less time helping the first world, and more on lifting the third world. Let’s get Nigeria to have a cleaner environment, let’s manage population through education, let’s put in make these organizations stronger and more transparent global organizations – the UN, NATO, WHO, the World Bank etc.
|
|