Welcome to a discussion about the upcoming 5th Revolution in the US, which I’ve titled the “Revenge Revolution.” For more about the Revenge Revolution and the author, Entry #1.  Periodically I write a “sense check” to assess whether a revolution in the US is possible or whether the entire exercise is based on a statistical aberration — i.e., a roughly 50-year cycle between major upheavals in the US. Entry #430 was the most recent “sense check.”

BEGIN #451: As noted occasionally in this blog, the “real me” is a member of a group of fellow MIT Alumni working on developing, assessing, and/or recommending practical solutions to climate change. The vision is to provide guidance to government, industry and the public about actions that should result in slowing the increase in the earth’s temperature to ~2.0^oC by 2100. The baseline temperature is pre-Industrial Revolution.

One of the workgroups held a Zoom call on June 6. Part of the call was devoted to reviewing a deck of PowerPoint slides that could be used to help educate the general public about causes of climate change and possible solutions.

One slide, describing the difficulty of the task, was titled “Very Difficult to Solve but Possible.” Almost immediately one member of the group strenuously objected to the word “Possible” in the title. He claimed there was really no solution to climate change, and we should not imply that there was. Several people objected, and I believe rightfully so.

Because a problem is extremely difficult to solve does not mean it cannot be solved. Apparently, he forgot we all went to MIT.

In addition, I found the objection ironic, given that the meeting was on the 78th anniversary of D-Day. What if the commanders of the Allied forces had decided that trying to retake much of Western Europe from the Axis was too difficult? That the landing at Normandy was too difficult and too dangerous? Had those efforts been deemed too difficult, what kind of world would we have today?

My father-in-law was one of those who participated in D-Day, landing at Omaha Beach, 2nd wave. He also fought in the Battle of the Bulge. While training in England before D-Day, he volunteered as a waist gunner on bombing runs over Germany. Thank goodness he and thousands of others who fought in WWII did not think retaking Western Europe was too difficult.

After spending the last few years trying to help address climate change, I believe that we, societal we, can solve the problem and avoid a catastrophe for mankind worldwide. The necessary effort will be as complex and difficult as the Americans and Allies found in World War II. Another layer of difficulty will be the time required. Rather than a war effort of 4-5 years, the “war on climate change” is going to last for probably 50 years, or more.

Yes, during those 50 years, there will be rationing and restrictions. There will be other inconveniences as well. To address the causes of climate change, life is not going to return to what was once considered “normal.”

Life after WWII was different than before WWII. As with post-WWII, if the climate change effort is managed properly, there will be widespread implementation of new technology and creation of many job opportunities.

Getting there is not going to be easy. As a nation we need to put on our big-boy pants, quit whining that the solution is too difficult, and start acting like adults. Everyone is society is going to be affected by climate change and everyone needs to commit to a solution.

We need to begin thinking about addressing climate change in much the same way the US and the Allies viewed D-Day. There’s really not much choice. It’s a “do” or “die” situation. END #451

Other Topics. Interested in more info about climate change, what’s required to electrify a fleet of cars/trucks, what it was like to work day-to-day with Lee Iacocca and an array of other topics? Visit another page of this website, https://usrevolution5.com/jrd-thought-comments/