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Facing the Risk
PART OF AN ONGOING DISCUSSION…In this and upcoming issues, electric industry executives offer their perspectives on the approaches and challenges concerning the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by utilities—and what that means for carbon policy.
For every generation there is a defining issue. An issue it must resolve if society is to continue and thrive. An issue it cannot ignore.
For the Greatest Generation, the challenge was defeating the Axis and overcoming a worldwide depression. After World War II, the challenge was civil rights.
For our generation, I believe the defining issue is climate change resulting from human activity—activity that produces hugely escalating amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs).
The challenge is novel for us in that it is fundamentally based on science. The nature of any scientific revolution—and that’s what’s required for us to overcome the climate change challenge—is discovery, debate (which can last decades), realization, and then, finally, action. And, as with prior challenges, action requires massive political will. We just pray that the point of action is not too late.
Many of the political and industrial players in the climate change debate point to the lack of definitive evidence and say, “See, we need to keep studying this rather than spending money and applying resources to solve a problem that may not be so bad or even exist at all.” In doing so, they miss a point that is a key principle in business and life: Probability diminishes in importance as the risk of catastrophic consequences rises.
Read the entire article. .
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