Transition Edge - Energy, Money and Our Kids

Published: Thu, 08/18/22

Transition Edge

August 2022 - Year two of the disrupted decade

Energy, Money and Our Kids

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I’m Grant Symons. I convene Transition Edge to help us understand how we can transition to a low carbon sustainable world using leading thinking and practices.

Every so often we change things up with some interesting pictures. As they say, a picture says a thousand words. These pictures are linked, the first two in a very big way for the past 75 years. The third is about here an now, in the disrupted decade - we need to act.

Below shows the decline in energy intensity over the last 200 years against the overall amount of energy used. The energy intensity is reducing because we have already extracted the easy to get deposits and this means it is harder to get what is left, which leads to higher prices. Another point to note is the tiny fraction of total energy that is wind and solar which gets a lot of publicity, but is immaterial in the bigger picture at present. Unless demand for energy drops, prices are going to increase over time. Yes this means your petrol, diesel and electricity (and everything you consume that requires these inputs). This shouldn't be a surprise, we have been writing about it for years now.

Since the 1970's the financial system has developed and grown exponentially. The financialisation of our systems has been accelerated by digitisation which enabled flows of money that have faced few constraints. With the ever increasing complexity of the systems and the vast numbers of people involved in them, creating vast numbers of products and services and vast markets to trade them on.. (while making vast sums of money, using other peoples money) we now find that much of the economy is 'unreal'. This 'unreal' part of the economy is trying to find ways to:

De-risk itself by forcing large scale institutions to declare exposures to climate change and transition to a zero carbon state (This may become a reality for anyone wanting money in future)
Make itself look like a solution, not the problem - JP Morgan just announced more investment in gas because it is better for the environment...than coal (with help from the marketing team)
Make itself look green - Creating green markets that are really just complicated and confusing mechanisms to make more money, greening balance sheets and continuing what was started in the 1970's.

Below really doesn't tell the story. Lets start talking about our young peoples health and well-being. The changes that have occurred since the onset of COVID have fundamentally changed the world they are grappling with. Disruptions in family life, key relationships, the education system and cost of living are stressing everyone to some extent. Many might argue that they are less well equipped than previous generations, having grown up in a world so full of tech bling, selfies and posterior augmentation. But where is big business and big money now?, you know...the system that engineered housing to now be 11 times earnings when it was closer to 3 in the 1980's? And what is the government doing that is going to materially change the current predicament?

Where does this leave us?

We can get used to higher energy prices, we will have to.

The financial system is a problem. It has developed the ability to dynamically adapt to any challenge. It claims to be as existential as the air we breath. It can be delinquent. It accelerates climate change and gets away with it. Recall the folks that ran the system into the ground in 2008, they were back investing in speculative things and paying themselves bonuses the very next year. Money is power, that wont be changing any time soon, the folks that run the system will see to that.

We can and must support our young people. What is the work that families, friends, communities, tribes, government and business need to be doing to help them with opportunity and agency in the evolving world? Perhaps more:

Inclusion in meaningful activity
Open / non judgmental communication
Common sense advice
Acceptance
Increase income / Debt management / relief
Opportunity to develop life skills and confidence
Mentoring or coaching
Nurturing away from addictions

And lets not underestimate them, just like previous generations that have risen to meet difficult challenges, this generation can too. The world is indeed in the disrupted decade, what role might we play that helps them through it?.

A quote from an old boss...

"dont knock the young people coming up, or they will knock you on your way down"

Grant Symons - The Transition Guy

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