In June, I published a carefully researched and edited paper entitled “Net Zero 2050: Rhetoric and Realities” in the “policy brief” series of the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan, where at the time I was an adjunct professor.
The paper argues that net-zero rhetoric is wishful political thinking shaped by ideology instead of fact. The ultimate goal of net-zero politics is to impose a radical energy transition that demands a top-to-bottom physical and social-economic restructuring of society, with no credible road map in sight. Think of it as telling people to step out of a perfectly serviceable airplane without a parachute, with assurances that politicians will work out alternatives on the way down.
