The Door Is Closing

The International Energy Agency is an autonomous intergovernmental agency created due to the initiative of people like Henry Kissinger.  This is an extremely conservative organization, highly respected.  Here is what the head of the IEA said a year ago after concluding the most thorough analysis ever of the world's energy infrastructure.  Quoting the Guardian article:

The door is closing," Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, said. "I am very worried – if we don't change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever."

At the time his conclusion was we had about 5 years.  We had until 2017, after which the damage would be irreversible.  Infrastructure built today locks in carbon emissions for years to come.  At this point we will have passed what he calls the threshold of safety.

It's worth noting though that the data so far indicate that the worst case IPCC projections were not bad enough. The destruction and rate of warming is closer to what so called radicals have been predicting.  We're in big trouble here and people don't seem alarmed.  We should be.