Climate Activists in the Third World are Taking the Exact Wrong Approach

[Seymour Flops]

This is the story as reported by NPR in "print" i.e. their website:

This week, Colombia and the Netherlands—the birthplace of oil giant Shell—co-hosted the "Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels conference" in Santa Marta, just north of the coal port.

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/29/nx-s1-5786914/colombia-conference-fossil-fuels

The story is long-winded in lofty goals for reducing fossil fuel use, but very short on specifics of how to do that.

Here's the thing - the probability of a third world nation joining the first world can be predicted by its consumption of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels drive industry, innovation, and public services. The United States and the other first world nations (meaning protectorates of the United States who made use of the opportunities we gave them following WWII) can afford to screw around with solar and wind power.

If nations like Columbia are going to end the dependence on exporting narcotics and become economic powers, they need all the gasoline, diesel, natural gas, and heating oil they can lay their hands on.

An interesting note, in the Radio Piece I heard that led me to look up this article, they said that "spoilers" like the U.S., Russia, and China were not invited. In the website, they claim the U.S. refused to attend.

The U.S., the world's largest oil and gas producer and the largest consumer of oil, did not participate in the conference. The U.S. State Department, which has in the past sent delegates to international climate talks, wrote in an email that "moving away from reliable, affordable, and secure energy to rely on intermittent and costly energy sources is destructive, and the president has been clear that the United States will not participate in the bogus climate agenda."

I don't know what that means. On the radio, they wanted to make it seem like the U.S. was not invited, but in print they wanted the U.S. to seem like they chose not to attend. Maybe they focus grouped the radio story and learned that even their own listeners found third worlders calling first would nations trying to help them "spoilers" made them seem like ungrateful little snots.

 

[Mushroom]

I don't know what that means. On the radio, they wanted to make it seem like the U.S. was not invited, but in print they wanted the U.S. to seem like they chose not to attend. Maybe they focus grouped the radio story and learned that even their own listeners found third worlders calling first would nations trying to help them "spoilers" made them seem like ungrateful little snots.

Such "conferences" have largely been a joke, where nothing is really done in the end other than providing some politicians and political types with a vacation paid for by somebody else.

And in reality, there is very little that can be done to "transition" from fossil fuels. And many of the alternatives are not possible, and other than nuclear can be destructive to the environment when done at scales large enough to replace conventional energy sources.

Just to give an idea, 5% of all crude oil production is used in cargo ships alone. And what is the option other than fossil fuels?

Well, other than a few experimental nuclear powered cargo vessels, there really is none unless we want to turn back the clock about 150 years and return to sail. And another 7% is used in powering aircraft. And for that there is no alternative, nuclear powered aircraft never even got to the experimental flight stage of development.