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Quote by Ramez Naam

“Today, our incentives aren't set up well - you can make a lot of money burning fossil fuels, digging up wetlands, pumping fossil water out of aquifers that will take 10,000 years to recharge, overfishing species in international waters that are close to collapse, and so on.”

Quote by Ramez Naam

Author

Ramez Naam is a seasoned manager with an unknown birth and death date. more

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“When it comes to trying to manage how our entire planet-wide market and all the people and businesses in it deal with nature and our natural resources - we first and foremost need to change the incentives.”

People Needs Trying Firsts Natural Deals Planets Resources Wide Manage Incentives Natural Resources Need A Change

Author:Ramez Naam

“Technology is incredibly powerful. And in many ways, the sky is the limit in terms of what you can actually accomplish with the right science and the right technology.”

Way Term Powerful Technology Sky Limits Accomplish Sky Is The Limit

Author:Ramez Naam

“You have to be willing to spend an awful lot in that R&D phase before you see the benefits. When you look at the companies that have really won customers over in technology - say, Apple and Google - you find that they spend billions of dollars on R&D each year, often spending that much on a product before they ever make a dime back in profits.”

Years Looks Company Technology Willing Products Benefits Dollars Profit Customers Spending Billions Awful Apples Phases Google Dimes

Author:Ramez Naam

“Unfortunately, in the environment, I don't see as much willingness to invest heavily in R&D as I do in consumer technology. And that's a pity.”

Technology Environment Pity Consumers Willingness

Author:Ramez Naam

“There are really two kinds of optimism. There's the complacent, Pollyanna optimism that says "don't worry - everything will be just fine" and that allows one to just lay back and do nothing about the problems around you. Then there's what we call dynamic optimism. That's an optimism based on action.”

Kind Two Problem Action Worry Fine Optimism Lays Complacent Pollyanna

Author:Ramez Naam

“We have climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions, mostly from human power and transportation infrastructure. At the same time, we have 2 billion people who live in energy poverty.”

People Humans Energy Poverty Climate Climate Change Billions Gas Infrastructure Transportation Emissions Greenhouses Greenhouse Gases Human Power Transportation Infrastructure

Author:Ramez Naam

“Doom yourself to horrific climate change by burning all that carbon and releasing all that CO2. Or power down society, reducing total energy usage around the planet. One leads to ecological collapse. The other is a reversion, in many ways, to poverty.”

Way Energy Poverty Planets Climate Climate Change Burning Collapse Carbon Doom Reducing Ecological Usage Horrific Co2

Author:Ramez Naam

“You have to be able to generate usable energy without greenhouse gas emissions and you have to be able to do it cheaply if you want people to choose that approach.”

People Ifs Want Able Energy Approach Gas Emissions Greenhouses Greenhouse Gases

Author:Ramez Naam

“New technology lets you grow the resource pie, which is the only way you can get out between that pincer of rising consumption (as we end poverty) and environmental and natural resource depletion.”

Way Ends Grows Natural Poverty Technology Resources Environmental Rising Consumption Pie Natural Resources New Technology Resource Depletion

Author:Ramez Naam

“Agriculture is the #1 source of deforestation. By some estimates it accounts for 80% of the forests chopped down in the tropics.”

Source Accounts Forests Agriculture Deforestation Tropics

Author:Ramez Naam