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So what would Climate Stalin have to do?

With the fires in LA it’s hard to feel optimistic about the future. I want to be reminded that all is not lost, we need to do a lot that likely won’t be done but there are still things to do.

So let’s say Climate Stalin became Supreme Leader of the World or just President of the United States tomorrow. Whats next? What steps do we take to stop climate change getting worse and mitigate the damage we’ve already done?

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    1. Nationalise all polluting industries, decouple them from the profit motive and public investment, decarbonise as much as possible
    2. Shift production so that it's as sustainable, localised, and decommodified as possible. Meet the needs of the people and empower them to fulfill those things
    3. Massive investment in mass transit, bike infrastructure, and subsidies for non-car transportation.
    4. Protect and expand existing natural areas, overfund the agencies dedicated to preserving them
    5. Invest in rural communities to encourage a more even population distribution
    6. Focus on high density urban development with biodiverse parks and urban forests. Every city should be a garden city.
    7. Shift the military's priority from warfare to climate resiliency. Turn it into a job corps that builds sustainable infrastructure
    8. Completely subsidise education in fields that promote climate resiliency and recovery from natural disasters, encourage climate change awareness at the primary/secondary school levels.
    9. Shoot every billionaire in the stomach and leave them outside the city limits
    10. Encourage artistic movements like art nouveau to promote a cultural reverence for nature, artisanal labour, and home craftsmanship. Encourage homesteading and gardening to create a more robust and local food supply.
  • Step 0 - Purge 99% of US cops, politicians, and kulaks

    Step 0.5 - Laugh at the memes about it

    Continue with happybadger's plan

  • my hot take is that on top of everything else people have been mentioning, we are going to have to do some form of intentional geoengineering. I understand that this is a big risk, but it feels like we're starting to get to the territory where we have to take risks, even if they might cause famines that kill millions etc. because if we don't the consequences would be far worse. fitting for a "climate stalin" scenario too, considering the strategy the USSR had to use to industrialize under Stalin

    • I agree, and the “throw a bunch of iron shavings in the ocean” option seems relatively low risk from what I understand?

      • i'm sure every project is inherently risky just because we dont have models accurate enough to actually know how risky something is, but it does seem like a better idea to me than simulating massive volcanic eruptions with sulfur dioxide lol, which is what I normally see get brought up as the first option

        as far as what i think is the best option, im not well informed but i remember stumbling upon this wikipedia article some months back https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_daytime_radiative_cooling , ive never seen anyone mention it before though so i assume it's got some big drawbacks or something like that

  • Basically what China is doing right now but with even more investment in rail. China is doing really well with high speed rail but still is spending far too much money on roads.

    I would start with China's infrastructure strategy, but add on top:

    -Decimate the road budget and spend it all on trams and trolleybuses. Ban the sale of new cars.

    -Ban the use of semi-trucks and build electric freight rail to all industries.

    -Build more rural rail lines, all electrified, to serve the community, and use timed transfers to allow for lower frequencies (what the Swiss do)

    -Shut down all fossil fuel plants as soon as possible

    -twice daily or more freight service to all industries to make up for lost truck capacity

    Uhhh now that I look at it this is kind of what Switzerland is already doing. The main difference is that the Swiss are reliant on extractive markets in other countries and are in no way socialist. Nonetheless, the Swiss rail network is excellent and well worth emulating in many facets.

  • Obviously he’d nationalize the energy and transport sectors as well as heavy industry. Then: rapid cessation of fossil fuels for energy production, immediate installation of vast arrays of renewable and nuclear power plants, rapid public transit deployment, outlaw ICE cars, massive reforestation drives, redirect public research grants towards carbon capture, construct mitigating infrastructure to reduce damage from the existing impacts of climate change. And if he has the time, execute those responsible for doing this to the earth (oil executives, former presidents, etc) just for justice’s sake.

    • Ban personal car ownership unless you have a good reason to own one
    • Ban air travel unless you have an extremely good reason to fly and no viable alternatives
    • Massive investments in rail and other transit infrastructure
    • Heavily disincentivise needless imports and stimulate much more local supply chains
    • Massive investments in nuclear and sustainable energy
    • Strict energy efficiency, repairability and longevity standards for consumer products
    • A programme of insulation and similar improvements for all buildings
    • Make the wasteful lifestyles of the rich impossible by liquidating the rich as a class and seizing their excessive assets
    • Oligarchs, fascists and the like gets shot
    • That last one has to be first. Fossil fuels aren't being burned by themselves and unless you get rid of these people they will come back and do the same shit or worse.

      • I agree with this. If you don't liquidate them as a class, then you're constantly at risk of bourgeois restoration. They will do whatever it takes to undermine progress.

49 comments