Though I tend to agree in principle that we should all strive to reduce the pollution coming from fossil fuels. But you have to be very careful what you wish for!!

Here in Germany there is an organization called “Die letzte Generation [The last generation]” that has lost a lot of popular support in the last three years. To the point that more and more people in the general population start to classify them as a terrorist, or at least pseudo-terrorist, organization. Their main [stated] goal is to accelerate the exit from fossil energies, in order to mitigate the climate change. If not to stop climate change all together.

The tactics employed by “The last generation” during their protests are what has started to turn the popular support they had against them. Initially they staged peaceful demonstrations in urban centers that garnered a lot of support from the general population. But towards the end of the pandemic restrictions they started employ so-called “civil disobedience”, which started to become disruptive of the “social peace” and required police intervention. Shortly thereafter, they resorted to vandalism and even destruction of private and public property, and even disruption of public infrastructure.

When these so-called “Klimakleber” or “climate gluers” start super-gluing themselves to mayor intersections and even highways, thus causing huge traffic jams, especially during peak rush hour traffic, tempers start to fray. Because workers are unable to reach their workplace on time causing a severe loss of productivity, and emergency services are disrupted in their ability to reach those in need of urgent care in a timely manner. There has been at least one fatality of a traffic accident victim because the ambulance was unable to get through in a timely fashion. There have been a few cases where irate drivers threatened these so-called “protesters” by driving their cars or trucks (not the 6.5L pick-ups or SUVs, but the 40 ton freight haulers) right into them. But so far the police has been able to de-escalate the situations and prevent the loss of life. Unlike what the police did in the southwest USA last summer, where police officers used their patrol vehicles to crush and kill “protesters” by rolling over them back and forth.

Then there is also the trespassing “The last Generation” did at several airports by destroying the perimeter security fences and invading taxiways and runways. Not only did that cause the shutdown of operations at that airport. But it caused innumerable flight diversions, cancellations of flights on top of numerous delays, congestions of passengers and cargo, as well as lost connections not only at the attacked airport but also at most of the destination airports served from there. The direct cost of each airport invasion runs into the hundreds of thousands if not millions of Euro.

The biggest problem I have with the majority of the so-called “green” technology is that most of it is nothing more than green-washing. Because for the most part, the assertions that “green” technologies are cheaper or better than fossil alternatives are based only on the direct operation, not on the total life cycle from resource acquisition to final disposal.

JerryRigEverything, who is a big fan of electric vehicles, published an interesting comparison of how “green” electric vehicles really are compared to conventional vehicles at When will a Electric Truck *actually* become "Green"?. According to his research, it takes about 30'000 miles of driving just to break even.

I want to expand on his final comment/wish for greener transportation, and state that the best way to reduce the fossil fuel pollution is through massive investments and improvements in the public transit infrastructure. Where I live here in Germany I have access to a fairly good public transit infrastructure. During the week I get a bus every 20 minutes, and on the weekends and evenings it is every 30 minutes. On top of that I only have to pay once per trip, irrespective of how many connections I have to make within the trip time limit. And depending on the monthly ticket I get unlimited trips within the corresponding geographical area. And at least here in Germany there is no competition between service providers, since public transit is regulated as an essential public service.

I am all for going green but I need my Jeep. I need a car to both get to work and to do my job. Public transportation sucks in my city, so I need a car. I also work in IT and service hundreds of people and businesses. Not all of that can be done remotely and I can't take an hour or more to get to a person's location by bus. Plus all the farms and other cities our business services it just isn't practical not to have a vehicle.

And before you say I should go electric. Electric vehicles do not have the range I need, plus they are very expensive. Plus from some of the things I have seen they are not as pollution-free as many people believe them to be.