IPCC Report: Climate Change Is a Generational Justice Issue
Originally published by Union of Concerned Scientists, The Equation.
By Christina Swanson
How many times have we said this before? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) new report, its sixth since 1990, is a “wake-up call.”
The report, authored by more than 200 scientists from across the globe and based on more than 14,000 individual studies, is a comprehensive synthesis of the latest science on the changing state of our climate system. It concludes that it is “unequivocal” that climate change is being caused by human activities, primarily the burning of coal, oil, and gas. Yet, California, a state known for its progressive climate stance, just approved 40,000 new oil wells in Kern County, an area already littered with tens of thousands existing wells and among the most polluted regions in the state.
The IPCC reports that now, decades after scientists’ first warnings, our actions have pushed our climate into an “unprecedented” state. The increase in temperature measured since 1970, when I was a young teenager, is faster than for any other 50-year period going back at least 2000 years.
”It finds that virtually every child on the planet is exposed to at least one climate or environmental hazard right now.”
Adriana Calderón, Farzana Faruk Jhumu, Eric Njuguna and me write in NYT as @UNICEF publish their Children’s Climate Risk Index.https://t.co/J1fc9ZCLMW
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) August 20, 2021
The IPCC’s report provides graphic descriptions of the human, ecological, and financial costs that we are already paying for climate driven heat waves, droughts, floods, and fires, and which will be worse in the future. According to the report, these types of climate and weather extremes are already affecting every inhabited region of the globe. As I write this, my drought-parched state, California, is burning again, with the Dixie fire consuming nearly 600,000 acres (almost 900 square miles!), destroying whole towns, and forcing thousands to evacuate.
And the IPCC sounds an urgent call for action, warning that we have very little time left if we are to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) and avoid the worst, most catastrophic, and irreversible impacts of climate change. Global temperatures have already risen by an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius.
Reading the report, it is painfully clear that, by our ongoing societal failure to act on our knowledge to slow and reverse climate change, we are not only bringing disasters down upon ourselves, we are jeopardizing our children’s future.
This basically sums up our current situation. The “code red” IPCC report came out a week ago. Since then not one politician has been held accountable. Not one politician has been asked how they are going to act in line with this. 1/4
(Graph by @Peters_Glen ) pic.twitter.com/1r4vljDzJw— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) August 16, 2021
Climate change is not just an environmental problem that is damaging ecosystems, harming, displacing, and killing people, and driving species toward extinction on land and sea. It is not just an environmental justice problem that is inflicting disproportionate harm on marginalized and vulnerable communities, countries, and regions of the globe. Climate change, and its resultant and escalating environmental, social, and economic harms and costs, is a generational justice problem that my generation — and the nearly 70% of the total cumulative emissions that were generated during my lifetime — is dumping on our children and future generations. That’s not right.
But the report also tells us that there is hope and a path — a very slim and very challenging path — for us to reduce our carbon pollution enough to limit global warming to that critical 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold.
We know, and in fact we have known for decades what we need to do: replace coal, oil, and gas with clean energy alternatives for electricity, transportation, industry, and buildings; change the ways we use land and produce food to protect and regenerate the natural systems, like forests and wetlands, that absorb carbon dioxide; and, because climate impacts are already upon us, we need to change how and where we build, work, and live to adapt to survive our changing climate.
All of these changes are well understood and feasible, some are already in progress, and most of them will provide social and environmental benefits beyond their positive climate effects, like improved health from less air pollution. So why are we failing?
One simplistic answer is that change is hard and often slow because the societies and systems in which we live have the tendency for inertia. At a time when we need different and difficult decisions, by governments, by industries and businesses, by the finance and investment sector, by communities, and by individuals, we are instead intentionally framing and grounding our expectations, planning, and decisions in the context of the status quo, the way things are and have been and in pursuit of short-term outcomes.
And so, informed by the IPCC report, motivated by our own self-interest, and inspired by our moral and ethical responsibilities to our children and future generations, here is one approach that we can take to help guide and facilitate those different and difficult decisions. Rather than making decisions based on the status quo, we could instead evaluate our options and make decisions based on the future and what we want that future to be. For every proposal for a new oil well, pipeline or power plant, or for an expanded highway, urban development, or logging plan, we should be asking “Is this project consistent with the characteristics and constraints of a world in which we meet our climate goal and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius?” If it’s not, we shouldn’t do it.
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”
This quote is perhaps overused by many of us in the environmental community, but it has always been one of my favorites. It resonates with my deep personal connection with nature, my training as a biologist, and my commitment to apply my professional efforts and talents to better protect our planet. But, with each passing year, as I have watched with joy and pride the next generation of my family grow to adulthood, it feels gloomier and more ominous, an accusation rather than inspirational rallying cry.
The new IPCC report is telling us — again — that we are trashing the planet we have borrowed from our children. We know we are doing it, we know what we need to do to stop it, and we don’t have much time left before the damage becomes catastrophic and irreversible. We are all responsible. We all have the responsibility to act. Most importantly (and most impactfully), policymakers at all levels of government, but especially those in Washington, must take decisive steps to confront the climate crisis. Not next year: now. And that means Congress should advance President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, which weds an equitable recovery from the pandemic-drive downturn with the climate action we need now.
So please, let’s all of us wake up and get to work.
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Kandi has become fairly well known in the US for its electric golf carts and work-focused UTVs, but the company has teamed up with Lowe’s and the NFL on something more playful: the Kandi 4P electric golf cart. Sold through Lowe’s with official NFL team liveries, this four-seat neighborhood cruiser is aimed less at the fairway and more at cul-de-sacs, grocery runs, and game-day tailgates. I spent time with a Miami Dolphins–themed 4P in South Florida to see what it can really do.
Kandi 4P NFL-edition golf cart video review
Want to see it in action? Or want to see my family decked out in head-to-toe Miami Dolphins gear?
Check out our family testing video below!
Specs, power, and hardware
Despite the “golf cart” label, the Kandi 4P is built more like a small road-going NEV. Power comes from a 5 kW motor and a big 48V 150 Ah lithium iron phosphate battery (around 7.2 kWh), giving it plenty of grunt for neighborhood speeds of around 20 mph and a lot more range than you’d expect from something this size. In practical terms, it just sips energy; I did multiple days of errands and joyrides before even thinking about plugging it in.
Charging is refreshingly straightforward. The cart uses a J1772 inlet, so you can plug into a normal 120V wall outlet with the included cord or use a typical home EV charger if you already have one. It’s overkill for a golf cart, but in a good way.
Underneath, you’ll find single wishbone suspension in the front, rack-and-pinion steering, and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes. There’s even a 2-inch receiver tow-hitch rated for 500 pounds of trailer weight and a mounting spot up front if you really want to bolt on a winch.
Features and practicality
Inside, the Kandi 4P feels more like a small EV than a basic cart. There’s a very large touchscreen display with multiple info pages for speed, battery, and system status (and also displays the backup camera). An NFC fob handles “key” duties, and you get proper controls for forward, neutral, and reverse, plus hazards, lighting, and a tilt-adjustable steering column with stalk-mounted turn signals and horn.
The seats are nicely upholstered and genuinely comfortable, with DOT seat belts front and rear, cup holders everywhere, grab bars for passengers, and a built-in Bluetooth speaker for rolling playlists or tailgate anthems. A flip-up windshield can be cracked for a bit of breeze or propped fully open on gas struts, and the hard roof extends enough to keep you fairly dry in the rain. I should know – I had it out driving in multiple rain storms!
Storage is better than you’d expect: a small glove box, a rear trunk, and even a front “frunk.” Between those and the flat floor, we were able to pull off a full grocery run – though we probably should have planned our bag strategy a bit better. We ended up buckling a week’s worth of grocery bags into the back seats, but a tub in the back would make a better storage area for those types of large store runs.
Is it worth it?
At $9,999 through Lowe’s with whichever NFL team’s colors you prefer, the Kandi 4P isn’t cheap in absolute terms, but it’s very much in the mix for modern, nicely equipped neighborhood carts. High-end golf carts can easily run $14,000–$15,000 these days, and they don’t always bring a 7+ kWh LiFePO4 pack, disc brakes all around, J1772 charging, and all the street-legal bits in one package. Add in official NFL team colors and logos and you’ve basically got a rolling fan-mobile that doubles as a genuine second car replacement for many households.
No, it’s not as safe as a full-size car – there are no airbags or crumple zones here. But it does have real seat belts and lights, and it encourages a more aware, less “invincible” mindset behind the wheel. For people living in communities with 25–30 mph streets, these kinds of carts make a lot of sense: lower cost to buy, dramatically less energy use, no tailpipe emissions, less wear on roads and tires, and far more smiles per mile.
Compared to an e-bike, the Kandi 4P wins on weather protection and passenger capacity. Compared to a second car, it wins on cost, efficiency, and fun. And if you’re the type of person who wants to show up to the grocery store or the stadium in a full team-liveried electric cart, this thing absolutely nails the assignment.
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In a bid to get it above the $1.00/share NASDAQ-required minimum, fledgling EV brand Polestar ($PSNY) is rumored to be considering a 1:30 reverse stock split that could see the per-share price rocket up to nearly $16.
Geely-owned Volvo spinoff Polestar is working as hard as Tesla to prove that stock prices have little or nothing to do with traditional business fundamentals in 2025.
That’s because Polestar posted a 36.5% increase in retail sales and a heady 48.8% increase in revenue (to $2.17 billion) over the year before, Polestar’s share price has plummeted more than 35% in a matter of a few weeks – culminating in an unwelcome nastygram from NASDAQ threatening to delist the company’s shares from the NASDAQ if they didn’t climb back up above $1.
It looks bad
To goose the share price, CarScoops is reporting that Polestar aims to move forward with the reverse stock split before the end of 2025. The expected 1:30 reverse split would boost the PSNY price to an estimated $15.90 per share at current prices, keeping the brand well out of risk of a delisting.
In a reverse stock split, each share of the company is converted into a fraction of a share – so, if a company announces a one for ten reverse stock split (1:10), every ten shares that you own will be converted into a single share. In a 1:30 reverse split like the one rumored here, every thirty shares in Polestar would become a single share.
The reverse split increases share price, but it’s not without risk:
A company may declare a reverse stock split in an effort to increase the trading price of its shares – for example, when it believes the trading price is too low to attract investors to purchase shares, or in an attempt to regain compliance with minimum bid price requirements of an exchange on which its shares trade … investors may lose money as a result of fluctuations in trading prices following reverse stock splits.
That’s especially relevant because, despite the increased sales and revenue, the company is also posting increased losses. Through September, the brand posted a $1.56 billion net loss compared to an $867 million loss in the first nine months of 2024. The company is also getting hit hard by Trump-imposed tariffs in the US and increased downward pressure on pricing coming from aggressive post-tax credit discounts from rival brands like BMW and Kia.
If the split does happen, here’s hoping Polestar can make the most of their borrowed time and they don’t end up like Lordstown Motors or Faraday Future – two brands that have pulled similar reverse stock splits with dubious results.
Electrek’s Take
Product-wise, at least, Polestar’s future appears to be bright. The new 3 crossover is a viable competitor to the industry-leading Tesla Model Y, and the upcoming Polestar 4 and 5 models seem like winners, too. To drive that point home, Polestar is promoting up to $18,000 in lease incentives to lure Tesla buyers into their showrooms.
You can find out more about Polestar’s killer EV deals on the full range of Polestar models, from the 2 to the 4, below, then let us know what you think of the three-pointed star’s latest discount dash in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
SOURCE: CarScoops; images via Polestar.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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With its sleek, uncluttered styling and more than 100 miles of battery-electric range before the extended range electric sedan’s gas engine kicks on, maybe the new Nissan N6 really should have been the next Maxima!
Struggling Japanese carmaker Nissan is dealing with an aging lineup and a brand identity driven more by subprime financing than any suggestion of reliability or sportiness here in the US – but overseas? The brand is rolling out hit after hit, and the latest Nissan N6 plug-in sedan promises exactly the sort of entry-level panache that could change its American fortunes.
“Under our Re:Nissan plan, we are redefining what Nissan delivers today and beyond,” explains Nissan President and CEO Ivan Espinosa. “It’s about strengthening our core, reigniting Nissan’s heartbeat, and creating products that inspire excitement and trust. It is about a sharper, more focused product strategy, a stronger brand, and a renewed commitment to our customers. Integral to this transformation is China — an essential market whose speed, technological leadership, and customer insights are setting the pace for the global auto industry.”
Developed by the Nissan Dongfeng JV in China, the new N6 is more compact that the well-received N7 BEV. In fact, the new Nissan N6, at 190.1″ long, compares nicely to the 192.8″ length of the most recent (and largest-ever) US Maxima, discontinued in 2023. Like the Maxima, the top-shelf version features modern, near-luxe features like soft, leather-like surfaces, LED mood lighting, multi-way adjustable seats, and mimosas or something.
Mimosas or something
The four or five passengers inside the N6 are propelled down the road exclusively by the car’s 208 hp electric motor, which is efficient enough to take you 112 miles on a full charge of its 21.1 kWh LFP battery. Once that charge is depleted, a 1.5L gas engine kicks on as a high-efficiency generator to keep the good times rolling.
Nissan says the N6′ exterior design, “features a V-Motion signature grille and expressive LED lighting at the front and rear.” And says that the car’s crisp lines give it, “a confident, dynamic presence.”
All of which sounds good on its own, but sounds absolutely miraculous when you consider the car’s Chinese price: ¥106,900 – or about $15,000 US for the base Nissan N6 180 Pro, as I type this.
Even with a nearly 100% markup to give it a $29,990 price tag in the US, I think the N6 would be a huge hit in the North American market. And – good news! – thanks to Canada’s apparent willingness to give Chinese carmakers a shot, we might find out if I’m right somewhat sooner than later.
Check out the Nissan N6 image gallery, below, then let us know what you think of the car’s US and Canadian appeal in the comments.
Nissan N6 gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: Nissan.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
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