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April 16, 2009

Economist/activist says world on cusp of third industrial revolution

By Charles Oliver

Mankind is facing “the end of human civilization as we have come to we know it” because of global warming, according to activist Jeremy Rifkin, citing NASA climatologist James Hansen. But we are also on the cusp of a “third industrial revolution” that might be able to stave off collapse.

Rifkin spoke Thursday night in Dalton State College’s Memorial Hall.

He referenced a number of problems he said could be linked to global warming including increased hurricane intensity, drought and extinction of various species, which could grow worse if global warming continues.

He said one moderate prediction is that the earth’s temperature could increase three degrees Celsius by the end of this century if nothing is done.

“Three degrees takes us back to the temperature on this planet three million years ago. It’s a completely different world,” he said. “Even at two degrees, we risk the potential extinction of between 30 percent and 70 percent of all the plant and animal species on this earth.”

But he said a solution may lie in moving away from carbon-based fuels such as coal and oil and towards renewable energies such as wind and solar.

He also said that Internet technologies now make it possible to move from centralized production of energy towards a “distributed” production of energy.

Rifkin said buildings equipped with solar cells and wind turbines and the like could possibly not only generate as much energy as the buildings need but more than they need. That energy could be sent to others over a “smart grid.”

He said that just as millions of individuals now create their own videos and music and other information and distribute it over the Internet, they could one day also create their own energy and distribute it.

The creation of those solar cells, the smart grid and other technologies would create a third industrial revolution, he said.

It is important to act quickly, he said, not only because of the threat of global warming but also because the world has been living off the savings of the second revolution, which created television and radio and automobiles, and because the world’s supply of oil is diminishing.

“We have to save the human race and our fellow creatures,” Rifkin said.

Some students said they were alarmed at Rifkin’s talk but also inspired to make a difference.

“Everyone of us need to do something to save our planet,” said Berenice Ruiz

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