Bill Gates thinks not eating meat or having a nice house won’t solve climate crisis

Microsoft co-founder and noted philanthropist, Bill Gates, has reiterated his call for climate change innovation, seeking more ways to combat climate change instead of asking people to alter their lives radically. Gates made this comment while speaking in a podcast with Bloomberg.

As countries around the world look for ways to reduce their net carbon emissions to zero in another three decades, the primary focus has been on the transportation sector. In the U.S., states like California, and more recently, New York have imposed curbs on the sale of fossil-fuel-powered cars by 2035, which will see a shift how we move around in the near future.

These moves are also expected to face resistance in the court of law and are not foolproof in curbing emissions. Interesting Engineering has reported the dark side of electric vehicles in the past and Gates' comments also reiterate the need for more innovation in the area rather than running with what we currently have.

Gates supported climate change innovations

Speaking to Bloomberg, Gates flawed the approaches such as asking people not to eat meat or desire to have a nice house to combat climate change. The former CEO of Microsoft said that these approaches could convince a few people to change their habits but could not be expected to play a central role in our fight against climate change.

Gates lamented the lack of innovation in our fight to address climate change when he said, "We're not even trying to make breakthroughs, such as inventing an economic way of making aviation fuel, cement or steel. The existing tools only apply to areas like electricity generation and don't apply to most of the emissions," Business Insider reported.

On his part, Gates founded TerraPower, a company engaged in designing nuclear reactors in 2015, and has also fuelled innovations in clean energy by supporting close to 100 startups through his investment venture, Breakthrough Energy. His notable investments include companies like Turntide, which is increasing the energy efficiency of electric motors and Mangrove Lithium, a Vancouver-based lithium refining company.

Working to reduce U.S. emissions

Gates also said that he was working closely with the current administration to ensure that the U.S. cut its carbon emissions in the coming years. Gates provided input and was "personally involved" in what was written in the Inflation Reduction Act that was passed by the U.S. Congress in August 2022.

The Act aims at curbing rising inflation in the U.S. has provisions to reduce the deficit and reduce prescription drug prices and provide subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Additionally, it also focuses on clean energy generation in the U.S. and aims to reduce carbon emissions in the U.S. by as much as 40 percent when compared to 2005 levels by the end of the decade. To this effect, the Act has allocated nearly $370 billion of funds to fight climate change, Business Insider said in its report.