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What You Can Do About Climate Change

nytimes.com

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Re: What You Can Do About Climate Change

#91

Post by DrScump »

ThomPete wrote: post #20
blurbleblurble wrote: post #13

Reading this article makes me feel very angry, especially as I look at the authors' background. There are so many things we can do, and these people are telling us that "the winner" is driving brand new fuel efficient cars, hot off the assembly line? What about biking? Walking? What about changing our habits so as not to rely as much on cars in the first place. How about not driving ? There are people who don't drive…

Not driving is not an option in many cases. Starting to bike doesn't solve climate change problems. Not sure how you would plant a raspberry tree in a New York apartment. There is very little the normal person can do about climate change without radically changing the way they live their lives and thats just not an option for most people.

  Not sure how you would plant a raspberry tree in a New York apartment.
Buying a brand new fuel efficient car is generally suboptimal for a NYC apartment dweller as well.

Re: What You Can Do About Climate Change

#92

Post by blurbleblurble »

baddox wrote: post #50
ohbecause wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5) Move to an urban environment Are you serious? If I go and buy an acre of land (or many acres, more likely) and grow my own food, keep a few animals, and trade with my neighbours, how the hell does "move to an urban environment" make me suddenly more efficient? So I can rely on the supply chain to get all the goods that I could get by walking down the street to another farm?

I would be quite surprised if growing your own food at small scale is more environmentally friendly than living in an urban area and consuming food that was produced and transported at massive scale.

Depends on what kind of growing your doing. There are a lot of agriculture styles that use very little resources and are economically affordable. If you're doing row-style monoculture, then you really can't compete with those economies of scale (and subsidies). But permaculture has huge yields for the amount of input it requires. Cultivating fruit trees and perennials in a plant "guild" can produce resilient, long term food sources with little upkeep. You could easily grow enough food for yourself on an acre.

Re: What You Can Do About Climate Change

#93

Post by DrScump »

medymed wrote: post #3

Strong arguments for buying a new car from a group with industry ties in Michigan. Or you can buy a submarine.

"Industry ties" mean nothing with regards to locality. Ford has strong industry ties in Michigan but has done all of its recent state-of-the-art plant construction (for the North American market) in Mexico.

Re: What You Can Do About Climate Change

#94

Post by nkurz »

soVeryTired wrote: post #49
nkurz wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the best single thing was going vegan. I tried to research this a while ago, and I think the numbers work out to say that going from a "standard" American omnivorous diet to a "standard" American vegetarian diet corresponds to a CO2 emissions reduction equivalent a one-way NY-SF flight or drive. Going from that to the a vegan diet is about equivalent to avoiding the return flight or drive. So if you've alre…

Is that one flight annually or one flight in a lifetime?

Good point. I believe it's comparing annual to annual, so that each year of diet change equates to one cross-country flight.

Re: What You Can Do About Climate Change

#96

Post by ThomPete »

blurbleblurble wrote: post #87
ThomPete wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

none of that have any effect on climate change what so ever. you need to effect the industry to have any impact and thats not going to happen enough to have any effect.

I downvoted this comment. Why? Not because I think you're a bad person or something. Contrary, I think it's fucking awesome that we are on here having this conversation, and I think it's very important. Props on that. That wasn't why I downvoted it. The downvote was a way for me to say "I don't have energy right now to go back and forth like this, maybe if I press this button this person will take a step back and thi…

So basically even though you cant back your own claims up with any substantial evidence you decided to downvote me because you dont like what i said. The irony.

Re: What You Can Do About Climate Change

#97

Post by lancewiggs »

mnm1 wrote: post #77
exergy wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree that this is an avenue open only to the upper class [1]. Not everyone can do everything, sure (if you're working two jobs, for example, the climate can rightly go fuck itself) but a lot of people can do a lot more. I also disagree that they are insignificant drops in the bucket. The point I'm trying to make is that "culture" is infuriatingly hand-wavy and difficult to quantify, but it matters. As an exampl…

Great. Give me a 2bdm/2ba apt in Manhattan for less than $1700 and I'll give up my car completely too. You're just proving my point for me.

What about Brooklyn or somewhere else commutable by PT or cycle? Do you really need two bedrooms - and two bathrooms? What space can you really live in?

Re: What You Can Do About Climate Change

#98

Post by Decade »

mnm1 wrote: post #77
exergy wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree that this is an avenue open only to the upper class [1]. Not everyone can do everything, sure (if you're working two jobs, for example, the climate can rightly go fuck itself) but a lot of people can do a lot more. I also disagree that they are insignificant drops in the bucket. The point I'm trying to make is that "culture" is infuriatingly hand-wavy and difficult to quantify, but it matters. As an exampl…

Great. Give me a 2bdm/2ba apt in Manhattan for less than $1700 and I'll give up my car completely too. You're just proving my point for me.

That over $1700 price is a negative externality of home-as-investment culture and racist downzoning. There is no natural law that says the 2 bed/2 bath apartment has to be so expensive.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/realestate/sure-build-it-...

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/05/19/upshot/forty-...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/upshot/popping-the-housin...

Re: What You Can Do About Climate Change

#99

Post by jcoffland »

ThomPete wrote: post #75
jcoffland wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not driving is always an option. What if fuel cost $10,000 a gallon? Would you still drive? No, you'd figure something else out. You would convince your boss to let you telecommute, you'd take the train, bike or walk. Or you would find another job.

thats the thing though fuel would never be regulated to cost $10k a gallon the economy would get killed along with the political careers of those who voted it through.

That's not the point. Cars are optional. The question is, is giving them up worth the cost?

Re: What You Can Do About Climate Change

#100

Post by TeMPOraL »

jcoffland wrote: post #65
Banthum wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regarding 9), if you're reading this you should have as many children as possible. Your high-IQ genes will be passed on to them; only the intelligent of the next generation will have the foresight and technical ability to develop real (technological) solutions to environmental problems. It's pretty well-demonstrated that the moralistic approach to climate change, where you harangue people into recycling or biking or…

It's troubling that you believe your genetics are responsible for economic success and education.

IQ is strongly hereditary and is pretty well correlated with economic success, so I don't see how this is troubling...
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