Sublimation

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The new climate regime and its vast impact on economics have finally received a seat at the big table. Wise corporate boardrooms are in the process of fostering a transition from carbon-based processes to profitable, renewable-based processes integrating environmental assets and levers.

Conversion that harmonizes with the changing climate is a monumental endeavor. The shift can be derailed due to a painfully slow adaptation away from fossil fuel based transportation and (centralized) fossil fuel based utility systems. Asset depreciation, subservience to quarterly results, and self-serving myth impacts every corporation; however, if transportation and power generation continue to lag, dependent enterprises, and their options will weaken–or simply disappear.

Baring that unfortunate scenario, barricades or spin, disasters or civil unrest, spaceships or bunkers, our successful path through the energized climate requires–in addition to integration–innovation fostering accelerating economic development, with an eye towards putting us ahead of the climate crisis. So another theme of the wise corporate board is innovation that integrates and incorporates the rapidly changing ecosystem–initially as a debit.

Not difficult enough? Here is the tough part:

Like it or not, we are at a point where the Information Age declares human wit as the successful navigation tool through a decidedly disagreeable climate–not computational superiority or economic myth. So as the Information Age completes its first stage of maturation and we enter this second stage–where innovation supersedes data–clarity and pluck will define the major paths to pilot the climate calamity. This really means feet-on-the-street tasks preformed by skilled, committed workers will require commitment–lots of it.

Innovation is a human trait.

Innovative technologies that will not buckle under the winds of change require a supple infrastructure allowing flex. This means adjustments to the energized climate will take more than big data. (In adaptation, we will see many major avenues for computational growth; sadly, they will be useless if the workforce is not committed to the operational components.) Those who misunderstand or discount the chaotic future will wither. Mistaking computational capability as innovation, while misunderstanding brute economic force as an implementation strategy, results in a corporate citizen finding itself at a dead end in the new climate regime. The shop floor’s commitment to the enterprise will define the winners in the coming decades.

Or to put it another way, “Making money by trading paper is just so yesterday.”

Thanks to anthropogenic forcing of the radiative balance, industries face two key tasks: integration and innovation. The successful path fosters agility; however, agility requires cooperation between the boardroom and the shop floor. In depth implementation of renewable systems by the workforce, whether it is in the generation portion (including agriculture), the monitoring portion (including IT, telecommunications, and defense), distribution framework (including supply chain), storage (including batteries), training, or construction requires an ongoing commitment by all.

Unfortunately, one would struggle to cite any recent change that looks remotely like a partnership between equity-junkies and their proles. For decades, the battle for profits has raged, with employees initially bearing the role of minor player–the labor component of cost–eventually morphing to the dumbed-down consumer; to now, when the employee bears the shroud of collateral damage. Corporations that partner with their employees to meet the challenge of transition from a carbon-based economy to a renewable economy have a higher likelihood of success. Those enterprises that do not, because they mistakenly see computational systems translating into their innovative framework, will witness their own departure. Convincing staff that they should genuinely assist their corporate citizen is another issue. That will take reform.

As a simple example: The line between being a consumer of power and a generator of power fades with every day. Consider your home. Architects, engineers, scientists, and others have come to see homes as micro-generation and energy storage facilities–in addition to the traditional role of shelter. Transportation wears these same traits. As we (hopefully) transition through the energized climate, those who refuse to accept the changes follow the buggy whip manufacturers into the backwaters of commerce. Economic pressures, the changing climate, shock-and-awe will be front and center. So while fear is a human process, integration is as well; however, time is not on our side. Computation does well looking backward. Computation is only fair at looking forward.

The requirements on the worldwide workforce will therefore be colossal. New tools will require refinement, standardization, and deployment. Competent workers who know how to cope with  environmental change will be paramount. America’s “Can-Do” attitude, the set of skills is so ingrained in the American psyche is another ally. The tactic of hiding the climate problem from the American worker, an aberration of patrician ego, is not.

The non-integrated economy is finished. The Information Age is maturing. So are humans. The battle over the carbon-based economy is finished (hopefully). Even so, we will transition to a decarbonized society that is in accord with its environment. We have no choice. How much pain or profit we harvest depends on our willingness to face the new climate regime. This means the innovative processes we put in place must integrate with the changing climate–while mitigating the terrible climate events we face.

Integrate, innovate, or evaporate–your choice.