Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates provides insight into the causes of the Texas energy crisis on Fox News Sunday.
Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has warned that there will be dire consequences if the world does not achieve net zero carbon emissions by the year 2050.
In his new book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster”, Gates says it is imperative that the world go from the current 51 billion tonnes of emissions to zero in the next 30 years to avoid a catastrophe.
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“The migration we saw from Syria to the civil war, which depended in some way on the climate, we will have 10 times more migration because the equatorial areas will become unviable,” Gates told Fox News Sunday presenter Chris Wallace, warning what will happen if the goal is not achieved. “We will not be able to plant or leave during the summer. Forest fires, even agricultural productivity in the southern United States – droughts – will drastically reduce productivity in the area. ”
Gates went on to say that the loss of life would be greater than the worst part of the coronavirus pandemic.
“General instability will be five times more deaths at the peak of the pandemic and will increase each year,” he said.
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Although 2050 is Gates’ cutoff point, he said it is really just a matter of “degree”.
“If we wait another 10 years, it’s not as bad as if we wait 20 or 30, because the temperature keeps rising,” he said. Gates said he is looking at 2050 because “it turns out that it is the most realistic date for the world to change all these types of emissions”.
Bill Gates, co-president of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks during the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Beijing, China, on Thursday, November 21, 2019. Photographer: Takaaki Iwabu / Bloomberg via Getty Images (Takaaki Iwabu / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Gates defended himself from criticism from the left and right. Those on the left say he is not going far enough and needs to support the Green New Deal, with efforts to reduce net emissions to zero by 2030.
“It’s completely unrealistic,” said Gates of the 2030 goal, saying it will take at least 30 years to reach it.
Gates was also criticized for talking about the need to reduce emissions while he himself has a huge carbon footprint for living in a big house and flying in a private jet. He said his other actions made up for that.
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“I am offsetting my carbon emissions by buying clean aviation fuel and financing carbon capture and financing low-cost housing projects to use electricity instead of natural gas,” said Gates. He noted how expensive these efforts have been and said these costs must be reduced.
Gates, an accomplished entrepreneur who created tens of thousands of jobs and established the United States as technology leaders worldwide, said that while a shift towards green energy is necessary, it will result in significant job growth for engineers.
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“The engineering skill sets, the things these workers do, will be important. In fact, we will have to almost triple the size of the power grid and build the entire transmission,” said Gates. “And therefore, it’s not like there is a lack of jobs in general, it’s just a balance to ensure that each community fits into the plan.”
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Gates also objected to a complaint from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who said the problems facing the state’s grid during the winter storm are the result of green power outages, mainly wind.
“This is not true,” said Gates, saying the power outage was the result of a failure to weather the power systems. He said that although wind turbines are part of this, it is possible to weather them, as evidenced by their use in North Dakota and Alaska.