EDUCATION FOR ATTITUDE CHANGE, CRITICAL, TRANSFORMATIVE PEDAGOGY AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE

by Sven A. Bjorke, Feb 2017

The sail ship era did not end because of a lack of wind, but because better alternatives were found. The fossil fuel era will end when better alternatives are available. It is happening now.

Oil and coal-billionaires, petro-tyrants and extreme Islamists live high on fossil fuels. These men are willing to do anything; start wars and destroy the future of their own grandchildren, to delay the inevitable shift from the fossil fuel paradigm to the sustainable development paradigm.

The world’s largest (1) oil-exporters: President Putin and the Saudi royal family, in close cooperation with US oil executives and the OPEC regimes, are fighting with their backs against the wall. The green shift (2) has begun, and oil prices will never return to the high altitudes (3). After a possible short-lived upturn the next two or three years, the price will likely plunge to below 20 dollars a barrel during the next ten years (4). In that case Putin’s possible imperial plans will collapse (5). Extreme wahhabist missionaries (6) with pockets full of petrodollars must end their operations in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Anti-democratic oil tycoons like the Koch brothers (7) in the United States can no longer buy entire political parties.

The hegemony wars between Saudi groups and Iran groups will come to a halt (8). True enough, many of the oil fields in the Middle East might still be profitable (9), but the tremendous economic influence some Arab states have today will be broken. For non-OPEC exporters like Norway only a few large oil fields will be barely profitable (10) when the price goes below 30 dollars a barrel, especially if all costs and externalities are included.

Being in the forefront on green technology is an advantage

Unlike most OPEC regimes, Norwegians are in the fortunate position of having a well-educated population and a well-functioning social system. Norway should therefore exploit it and stay ahead of the green shift, and as soon as possible build up more economic legs to stand on. “Dutch disease” even for the Norwegian economy is a threat to consider.  Other oil-exporting countries are currently far behind, and will fight with what means they have for more time.

Delay the shift at any cost!

The fossil – and tobacco industry’s propaganda machinery has the mission to delay the green shift another few years. – Do whatever, but the flood of the daily billions of petrodollars (11) to the world’s richest and most powerful men must be maintained yet awhile! Heartland Institute, Breitbart News, Cato Institute and dozens of similar propaganda institutions are working hard to spread “alternative facts,” “fake news,” seemingly scientific information and sow confusion and paralysis. The Merchants of doubt (12) are on the job. They managed to install an obedient, burly servant in the White House. They got the director of the world’s largest publicly traded oil company in as Secretary of State (13). As previous partner with Aramco and with Putin, he has close personal links to the Saudi royal family and the Russian President. The picture of the global, a bit awkward, fossil alliance between Russia, petro-tyrants in OPEC and the US “Big Oil” (14) is becoming increasingly clear. Putin has already managed what the Donald tries to do: remove climate and environment as topics in the mass media. Those who might try, will be confronted with an army of network control trolls as a first step (15).

Daily burning of billions of litres of oil unproblematic?

Politically extreme activists and other stooges of the global fossil alliance present increasingly imaginative stories to assure the public that the daily burning of billions (16) of litres of fossil fuels is not at all problematic. To divert the attention from the elephant in the room, they holler and point to mouse droppings and flies in the window. “The infrared spectrum is saturated.” “It’s getting colder.” “It has been as hot before.” “It’s just a natural variation, nothing to worry about.” “The models do not work.” “It snows more in Antarctica,” “UN, science and world political leaders conspire against humanity” etc. They can “prove” this by referencing to ‘research’ from Heartland Institute (17) with its associate NIPCC, complemented with Canadian tar-sand- funded pink blogs presented as investigating journalism. Dozens of such “think tanks” get millions of dollars (18) from the fossil industry to organize net trolls, produce disinformation, spread doubt and paralysis. Unfortunately, they have also managed to infiltrate and sabotage the IPCC (19). Heads of state of OPEC countries, the US and Russia have demanded entry for fossil lobbyists, also into scientific sessions. The IPCC reports, in particular the synthesis report and the second and third sections therefore underreport problems (20).

West Europeans  more over to energy companies?

Fortunately, Western European oil companies (21) seem less tied to extreme Arab petro-interests than the Americans. European companies are therefore further ahead in the necessary transition to become energy companies. EU / EEA should continue to add clear political guidelines (22) to continue the development and avoid being manipulated by short-term and politically extreme Arab-American-Russian interests. Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and other oil exporters reluctantly see the end of the fossil-period and position themselves by renewable energy projects (23) and large-scale acquisitions of Western companies. Even Aramco considers entering stock exchange listing (24) to finance such acquisitions.

The elephant in the room

The elephant in the room is large and complex: The oil age will probably end in 20 years from now (3). Investments today that need more time to break even will never become profitable. Some analysts believe this is an optimistic time frame, suggesting 10 years as more realistic if the Paris Agreements is observed. One of the most important jobs for Donald and his friends is to sabotage such agreements and reduce investments in renewables, which they started from day one in the White House.

Pollution follows the fossil fuels

Air pollution from the burning of almost 100 million barrels of oil per day and the equivalent of coal and gas is choking many places, and causes an early death for seven million people annually (25). China and India are particularly bothered by air pollution, and now invest heavily in renewable energy (26). Acidification of oceans threatens bioproduction (27) and oxygen production (28). Global climate change is underway, with rising sea levels (29), the melting of glaciers (30), increasing freshwater shortages (31), more extreme weather (32), longer and hotter droughts interrupted by periods of extreme flooding. Coral reefs (33) die worldwide. Agricultural production is threatened (34).

Heat waves can make large areas of the world uninhabitable in this century (35). Fish and animal species migrate northward or to higher ground to escape warming (36).

Refugee flows and capital accumulation

Refugee flows are already cumbersome (37). Capital accumulation in petro-tyrannies is enormous, and combined with changing climates, the damage caused is so significant that the entire Western civilization and world economic systems are threatened (38).

Aramco alone has a total capital that is greater than the five largest Western listed companies (39) have combined.

You do not need to assess infrared spectrum saturation and calculate radiative forcing, atmospheric CO2 and methane sensitivity. Intricate, bombastic truisms presented as sensations, complicated and  irrelevant calculations and marginal speculation in scientific jargon is just part of the propaganda tricks to make you doubt.

The transformation has started – and it is unstoppable

See the elephant in the room. Do not be fooled. The transformation happens with you or without you. Take a position. Participate in the green (40) transition now!

1. Crude Oil Exports by Country (2017) http://www.worldstopexports.com/worlds-top-oil-exports-country/
   CIA factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2242rank.html
   World’s top oil exporters http://www.investopedia.com/articles/company-insights/082316/worlds-top-10-oil-exporters.asp 
2. Greener future? https://agreenerfutureblog.wordpress.com/6-greener-future/
   Green technology  https://agreenerfutureblog.wordpress.com/6-greener-future/6-1-green-technology/
3. Bloomberg (2016) New Energy Outlook (NEO) https://www.bloomberg.com/company/new-energy-outlook/
4. Cheap Electric Cars and Solar Technology Could Stop Growth in Fossil Fuel Demand Starting in 2020 https://www.desmog.uk/2017/02/01/cheap-electric-cars-and-solar-technology-could-stop-growth-fossil-fuel-demand-starting-2020
   – This new fuel will kill big oil  (far right publication)
5. New Republic (2014) Putin Is Trying to Reconstruct the Russian Empire https://newrepublic.com/article/118790/after-malaysia-flight-17-we-should-call-putin-shameless-thug
6. The Saudi Connection: Wahhabism and Global Jihad http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/saudi-connection-wahhabism-and-global-jihad
   Giorgis, D (2016) The Wahhabi Invasion of Africa http://www.ethiomedia.com/1010ideas/the_wahabi_invasion_of_africa.pdf
   The spread of Wahhabism, and the West’s responsibility to the world http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2015/11/spread-wahhabism-and-west-s-responsibility-world
7. The Koch bros exposed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N8y2SVerW8
   America has a Koch problem http://www.ecowatch.com/america-koch-problem-2214139938.html|
   Bernie Sanders: ‘This Is Exactly What We Mean When We Talk About Oligarchy’ (April 2017)
8. Over to renewables – now! https://ufbutv.com/2014/08/11/over-to-renewables-now/
9. North sea oil fields set to make a loss on every barrel produced as BP cuts 300 jobs http://www.independent.co.uk/news/north-sea-oil-fields-set-to-make-a-loss-on-every-barrel-produced-as-bp-cuts-300-jobs-9981296.html
   Cost of producing a barrel of oil and gas http://graphics.wsj.com/oil-barrel-breakdown/
10. Disse norske oljefeltene står i fare på grunn av lav oljepris http://e24.no/energi/disse-norske-oljefeltene-staar-i-fare-paa-grunn-av-lav-oljepris/23357796
11. IEA (2017) Oil market report https://www.iea.org/oilmarketreport/omrpublic/
    Crude oil price https://www.dailyfx.com/crude-oil
12. Oreskes & Conway: Merchants of doubt http://www.merchantsofdoubt.org/
    -Richard Lindzen and Heartland institute with fossil fuel funding http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Richard_S._Lindzen
    -Klimakampen som aldri slutter https://titan.uio.no/node/2110
    -Climate Science Denier Richard Lindzen’s List of 300 “Scientists” Sent to Trump Is the Usual Parade of Non-Experts https://www.desmog.uk/2017/02/27/climate-denier-richard-lindzen-300-scientists-trump-usual-parade-non-experts
    –Faulty logic fuels fossil fools (Suzuki foundation)
    The fossil fuel industry’s invisible colonization of academia
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/mar/13/the-fossil-fuel-industrys-invisible-colonization-of-academia
    Facts And Evidence Matter In Confronting Climate Crisis |
    How Trump Ally Myron Ebell Spread Misinformation for Big Tobacco and Big Oil  http://www.alternet.org/environment/how-trump-ally-myron-ebell-spread-misinformation-big-tobacco-and-big-oil |
13. Rex Tillerson http://www.forbes.com/profile/rex-tillerson/
14. Trump, Putin, and ExxonMobil team up to destroy the planet https://thinkprogress.org/trump-putin-and-exxonmobil-team-up-to-destroy-the-planet-fb88650acfa1#.tcyubognn
    Trump and the new world order http://savingourplanet.net/index.php/2016/12/28/trump-new-world-order/
    Fortune (2016) Russia Is Selling a Big Chunk of This State-Controlled Oil Giant  http://fortune.com/2016/12/08/russia-rosneft-qatar-glencore-oil/ |
    Why FBI Can’t Tell All on Trump, Russia  http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/why-fbi-cant-tell-all-trump-russia |
15. The Guardian (2015) Salutin’ Putin: inside a Russian troll house https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/putin-kremlin-inside-russian-troll-house
    Robert Mercer: the big data billionaire waging war on mainstream media
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/26/robert-mercer-breitbart-war-on-media-steve-bannon-donald-trump-nigel-farage
16. Climate change in facts and figures https://ufbutv.com/2013/04/14/climate-change-in-facts-and-figures/
    Brennan, C. (March 2017) Boulder scientist sounds alarm over record carbon dioxide readings http://www.dailycamera.com/science_environment/ci_30849173/boulder-scientist-sounds-alarm-over-record-carbon-dioxide
17. Heartland institute http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Heartland_Institute
    Oreskes and Conway (2014) http://www.merchantsofdoubt.org/ | http://www.desmogblog.com/heartland-institute#funding http://www.desmogblog.com/heartland-institute#key people
18. UCS (2015) Documenting Fossil Fuel Companies’ Climate Deception. Leaked internal memos reveal a coordinated, decades-long disinformation campaign. http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/catalyst/su15-documenting-fossil-fuel-companies-climate-deception#.WLFaBTvhCM8
    Who’s Driving Climate Denial? Big Companies and Conservative Media http://www.ecowatch.com/companies-drive-climate-denial-1998224867.html
19. Uncovered: Fossil Fuel Industry Has Back-Door Access to U.N. Climate Talks https://www.globalpossibilities.org/uncovered-fossil-fuel-industry-has-back-door-access-to-u-n-climate-talks/
20. Health Medicine Network (2017) Scientists argue current climate change models understate the problem http://healthmedicinet.com/i/scientists-argue-current-climate-change-models-understate-the-problem/
21. Statoil: New Energy Solution https://www.statoil.com/en/what-we-do/new-energy-solutions.html
    BP: Renewables http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy/renewable-energy/renewable-power.html
22. EEA (2016) Renewable energy in Europe 2016 – Recent growth and knock-on effects http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/renewable-energy-in-europe-2016
23. Bloomberg (2017) Saudis Seek Up to $50 Billion in Renewable-Energy Expansion
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-16/saudis-seek-up-to-50-billion-for-first-phase-of-renewables-plan
    Abu Dabi – Masdar http://www.masdar.ae/
24. Saudi Aramco (2016) We’ll be ready for $2 trillion IPO in 2018 http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/12/investing/saudi-aramco-ipo-2018/
    What prominent Western companies were partly or completely purchased by Saudi Arabia based investors? https://www.quora.com/What-prominent-Western-companies-were-partly-or-completely-purchased-by-Saudi-Arabia-based-investors
    Forbes (2016) Saudi Arabia is buying up America’s oil assests https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenrwald/2016/09/15/saudi-arabia-is-buying-up-americas-oil-assets/#22b3f4e41189
25. WHO (2016) 7 million die from air pollution every year http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/en/
    Now there are air pollution deniers too https://www.globalpossibilities.org/now-there-are-air-pollution-deniers-too/ 
26. The Real Drivers of a Low Carbon Future: China and India http://www.ecowatch.com/the-real-drivers-of-a-low-carbon-future-china-and-india-1891123754.html
    China Leaves U.S. in Dust With $361 Billion Renewable Energy Investment(Jan 2017)
    http://www.ecowatch.com/china-renewable-energy-investment-2180695528.html |
    India to sell only electric cars by 2030 (June 2017)  http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/03/technology/future/india-electric-cars/index.html
27. Acidification https://agreenerfutureblog.wordpress.com/3-impacts/3-5-acidification/
28. Ocean Deoxygenation http://oceanscientists.org/index.php/topics/ocean-deoxygenation
    Scientific American (2016) Ocean’s oxygen starts running low https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ocean-s-oxygen-starts-running-low/
29. Sea level rise https://agreenerfutureblog.wordpress.com/3-impacts/3-2-sea-level-rise/
30. Melting glaciers https://agreenerfutureblog.wordpress.com/3-impacts/3-10-glaciers/
31. Freshwater https://agreenerfutureblog.wordpress.com/3-impacts/3-13-freshwater/
32. Extreme weather https://agreenerfutureblog.wordpress.com/3-impacts/3-7-extreme-weather/
33. Oceans https://agreenerfutureblog.wordpress.com/4-ecosystems/4-4-oceans/
34. Agricultural land https://agreenerfutureblog.wordpress.com/4-ecosystems/4-3-agricultural-land/
35. Independent (2016) Climate change could make parts of the Middle East and North Africa ‘uninhabitable’. The researchers believe the rising temperatures will create climate refugees
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/climate-change-could-make-parts-of-the-middle-east-and-north-africa-uninhabitable-a7010811.html
36. Havet blir varmere http://www.arcticsystem.no/no/outsideworld/oceancurrents/warmer-ocean.html
    Sea is getting warmer http://www.arcticsystem.no/en/outsideworld/oceancurrents/warmer-ocean.html
37. UNHCR (2017) Figures at a glance http://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html
    Climate diplomacy (2017) Insurgency, Terrorism and Organised Crime in a Warming Climate. Analysing the Links Between Climate Change and Non-State Armed Groups  https://uploads.guim.co.uk/2017/04/20/CD_Report_Insurgency_170419_(1).pdf
    
38. Impacts on economy https://agreenerfutureblog.wordpress.com/3-impacts/3-8-economy/
39. CNN Money (2016) 7 crazy numbers about the world’s biggest oil company http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/10/news/companies/saudi-arabia-aramco-oil-ipo/
40. BBC: New UN climate chief: ‘Action on warming unstoppable’
    http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39081783
    Bernie Sanders and Bill Nye Defend Climate Science, Explain How Renewables Can Power America
    http://www.ecowatch.com/bill-nye-bernie-sanders-2288408406.html 
    A greener Future? https://agreenerfutureblog.wordpress.com/6-greener-future/