"Panic never made any meaningful solutions."-- Klaus Topler
It's an interesting quote. Topfer, around 35 years ago, was picked up by Helmet Kohl (then Chancellor of Germany), and given a multi-task job of being the Minister over the Environment, Nuclear Safety, and Conservation. For roughly five years, he headed up the offices. In 1995 time frame, he headed up the Minister for Urban and Regional Planning for several years.
Since 2013, Topler has been in a foundation group which is highlighting innovations, and the development of technology for the benefit of society.
At 81 years old, he'd probably admit that he has slowed down slightly, but he was always the thinking man's public official. He's one of those rare people who see problems, and then sees innovation as the tool out of the problem.
He made this quote that I noted this week....over the hyped-up business going on in Madrid with the climate folks and the Greta crowd.
If you lined up every single problem that existed across the US and Europe in the 1920s and 1930s.....virtually every single problem was 'wiped-out' within thirty years. It doesn't matter if you talk about disease, movement of people around urbanized areas, quality or safety of food, hygiene, etc. The same can basically be said for every problem that existed in the 1960s, innovation and technology came along and rendered the issues and problems as non-existent.
Forcing people to bend over backwards, or giving up something to 'feel' good about 'helping', or taxing people to achieve lesser use? Why? If you'd just sit down and review the problem....giving the innovators an inside view of what needs to happen....they will innovate your path to the solution.
All this talk of only ten years, or emergency actions? It's apparently some style of tactic to avoid talking to the innovators, and refusing to allow them to be part of the process ahead. One can wonder about the reasons here, but it's a silly and juvenile game to play.
I own a new model of the Audi A5. If you compared it against comparable cars of the 1970s....it gets two to three times better gas mileage. It has an onboard computer system to 'educate' me on how to drive more effectively and waste less fuel with little 'tips' (whether I like it or not). It has supreme safety devices which will absolutely ensure my survival and that of my passengers in any accident. It features a navigational system that talks to Audi HQ's and looks at traffic jams 20 kilometers away (on my path) and talks to me about taking an alternate route to avoid stress and hassle. It has a braking system that gives me advantages on black ice. With the help of my smart-phone, I can find fuel along my path, for the cheapest price possible.
All of these things....delivered by innovation and technology.
I just wish the alarmist people and the Greta crowd would just give the innovators a seat at the table.
1 comment:
Hm, this is a touch naive. What we haven't had during all these marvelous years of overcoming issues is the volume of corporate rent seeking and lobbying that's now permeating the system. There was actually space for these innovators to emerge and place their mark on the events as they unfurl. Now, there's too many interests who want to throw a spanner in the works, due to there being about 3 trillion dollars worth of oil and gas still laying in the ground.
You can surely agree that 3 trillion dollars of potential profit is enough to make some people/corporations not exactly act in good faith anymore?
I come from a mining town, where they decided to engineer their way out of problems. All they did was engineer their way out of responsibility. I'd love to think that times have changed, but remain a touch skeptical.
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