Thane Gustafson

Spoiler alert. Most striking to me was Russia's similarity to everywhere else: no coordinated planning, politically driven narratives, huge oil and gas subsidies, declining oil and gas fields, reliance on coal-fired electricity from antiquated plants (none built since 1991), lip-service vying with hype on renewables. Two-thirds of the country sits on destabilizing permafrost that will warp and topple huge amounts of infrastructure while burping unimaginable amounts of methane. Forests perched on top will gradually become fire hazards. One difference from U.S.: shale oil is not yet economic and foreign oil companies won't be investing soon with sanctions. Short-term warming may provide a boost for agriculture but not nearly enough to replace hydrocarbons for foreign exchange.… (mais)