From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

Microsoft founder Bill Gates wants us all to eat fake vegetable meat and embrace nuclear power, to avert the climate crisis.

Bill Gates: We will overshoot 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming, nuclear can be ‘super safe’ and fake meat will eventually be ‘very good’

PUBLISHED FRI, JAN 13 20234:02 PM EST
Catherine Clifford@IN/CATCLIFFORD/@CATCLIFFORD

Cat Clifford

Climate innovation and technology reporter

• The world will not be able to avoid overshooting the goal established in the 2015 Paris Climate Accord to limit global warming to, ideally, 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-Industrial levels, Bill Gates told Reddit users on Wednesday.
• While it’s “great” if people want to be vegan, Gates doesn’t think most people will do that and thinks that alternative meat products will “eventually” be “very good.”
• Individuals who want to contribute to climate change mitigation can do thinks like vote, buy an electric car and stay optimistic.

The world will not be able to avoid overshooting the goal established in the 2015 Paris Climate Accord to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-Industrial levels, according to Bill Gates.

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“The pace of innovation is really picking up even though we won’t make the current timelines or avoid going over 1.5,” Gates wrote in response to a question about how well the world is responding to climate change.

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The advanced nuclear reactors TerraPower are building use liquid sodium as the coolant and uranium as a fuel source. 

“We are making excellent progress,” Gates said, while also acknowledging that the Ukraine war has thrown a wrench in TerraPower’s plans because the reactors planned to operate with fuel coming from Russia and that relationship is no longer viable.

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Gates has backed several companies working to make meatless meat products, including Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, he told Reddit users. And he’s also backed Memphis Meats (which has since rebranded under the name Upside Foods), Gates said, and which takes cells from an actual animals and grows the products in laboratory environments.

“I think eventually these products will be very good even though their share is small today,” Gates told Reddit. It’s important to innovate alternative ways to produce meat alternatives and climate conscious ways because, “for people who want to go Vegan that is great but I don’t think most people will do that,” Gates said.

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“We need support on climate from both parties in the US and in all countries,” Gates said. Also, “staying hopeful is a good thing!”

…Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/13/bill-gates-we-will-overshoot-1point5-degrees-of-global-warming.html

Impossible Foods, one of the companies Bill Gates invested in, laid off staff last October, but claims sales are growing rapidly.

Vegan Meat Leader Impossible Foods Lays Off 6% of Staff Despite Steady Growth. What’s Next?

ALT PROTEINFUTURE FOODSVEGAN
By Jill Ettinger Last updated Oct 12, 2022

Impossible Foods, the Bay Area vegan meat brand behind Burger King’s Impossible Whopper, says it recently laid off six percent of its workforce. Is it a sign of more cuts or more growth ahead?

According to Impossible Foods’ CEO Peter McGuinness, the recent spate of layoffs come as part of the company’s restructuring, following his appointment as CEO in April. McGuiness said in a memo to employees that the layoffs involve “roles that have become redundant to others in the organization or that are no longer aligned with our core business priorities.” 

Plant-based meat sales on the decline

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An Impossible Foods spokesperson told Green Queen that “contrary to reports about the performance of the plant-based meat category and a number of companies within it, we’re seeing hyper growth, with over 60% year-over-year sales growth in retail alone. Earlier this week we proactively made some organizational changes that strengthen our company and establish clear supply and demand functions to position us for our next phase of expansion. As a result, some roles were eliminated, but we’re continuing to actively recruit for key positions that will enable our continued growth.”

…Read more: https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/impossible-foods-lays-off-staff-despite-steady-growth/

I’m OK with nuclear power, but in my opinion this fake meat push is going to kill people.

I’ve lost over 10Kg in three months since I switched to a mostly meat diet, on the advice of medical specialists. Some people’s metabolisms simply cannot tolerate a carb and vegetable rich diet. I believe banning meat, having to eat fake meat, would be a death sentence for me and people like me.

I’ll leave it to your imagination what I think Bill Gates can do with his climate friendly fake meat.