Now we need to start fining companies (per worker) that unnecessarily require people to commute to work.
Traffic and Pollution Plummet as U.S. Cities Shut Down
61–70 of 185 posts
Re: Traffic and Pollution Plummet as U.S. Cities Shut Down
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Citation? I was also fooled into believing those photos if your coment is accurate. Ty
"The swans in the viral posts regularly appear in the canals of Burano, a small island in the greater Venice metropolitan area, where the photos were taken. The “Venetian” dolphins were filmed at a port in Sardinia, in the Mediterranean Sea, hundreds of miles away. No one has figured out where the drunken elephant photos came from, but a Chinese news report debunked the viral posts: While elephants did recently come…
Thanks for the link, I appreciate it. I also find it very disappointing that I was fooled into believing this and I have a hard time understanding the motives behind the OP of the canal pictures.
I guess I was blinded by my really wanting to see something positive comming from this crisis, it is illogical but realizing this story was not true is making my eyes water right now.
Re: Traffic and Pollution Plummet as U.S. Cities Shut Down
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
You could make a great case for carbon tax + dividend right now, because people aren't driving as much and the people staying at home get the dividend too, so in addition to the economic impact of the tax being blunted by the low oil prices, you're also creating a net transfer to the people most impacted by having to stay at home. And giving people more financial incentive to stay at home instead of going out and spr…
"great case for carbon tax + dividend" Squint a bit and Canada's carbon dividend looks like UBI. I'm fully on board.
>> Squint a bit and Canada's carbon dividend looks like UBI.
As an Albertan I'm not super-happy about paying for the country's party over the past 20 years and now being kicked out of the house when we're out of beer.
Re: Traffic and Pollution Plummet as U.S. Cities Shut Down
#64Looks like we've found the solution to global warning. All it took was a government mandate that folks who can and should be working from home do so. Hopefully we all have the common sense to continue this long term, mother earth deserves a break
I think the people working from home are outnumbered by the people who can't work and are quickly going broke.
Re: Traffic and Pollution Plummet as U.S. Cities Shut Down
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The swans in the viral posts regularly appear in the canals of Burano, a small island in the greater Venice metropolitan area, where the photos were taken. The “Venetian” dolphins were filmed at a port in Sardinia, in the Mediterranean Sea, hundreds of miles away. No one has figured out where the drunken elephant photos came from, but a Chinese news report debunked the viral posts: While elephants did recently come…
Thanks for the link, I appreciate it. I also find it very disappointing that I was fooled into believing this and I have a hard time understanding the motives behind the OP of the canal pictures. I guess I was blinded by my really wanting to see something positive comming from this crisis, it is illogical but realizing this story was not true is making my eyes water right now.
It's natural to actively seek a silver lining when terrible things happen. We all want to know that someone somewhere is better off in some moral or philosophical (as opposed to financial) way when tragedy strikes. Unfortunately, some people take advantage of that for internet points or to push their current agenda.
If you feel frustrated and hopeless, give to a local food bank, buy music or books from your favorite creators, have a virtual happy hour with friends or family, drop that friend a note and catch up, or work on that idea you've had.
There are lots of bright spots out there and we can create our own too.
Re: Traffic and Pollution Plummet as U.S. Cities Shut Down
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Doesn't Venice have "clean water" because all the silt that was suspended in the water due to gondola traffic has now settled on the bottom of the canals?
clear water doesn't necessarily mean clean water. Turbidity, which is how cloudy water is, is on a different axis from pollution, toxicity, and mineral content of water. There are heavily stained lakes in Florida with a lot of silt mixed up that you can't see further than a couple feet in that would be fairly safe to drink out of. Mono Lake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_Lake , by contrast is very clear, but it's…
>clear water doesn't necessarily mean clean water
I agree, hence my "clean water" in quotes. However, a lot of people do think that opaque water is inherently dirty and clear water is inherently clean, even if the opaqueness is simply due to suspended organic particles that will settle over time.
Re: Traffic and Pollution Plummet as U.S. Cities Shut Down
#67Despite the loss of human life, and the economic suffering of a great chunk of our species, a lot of good may come of the present pandemic. I believe this crisis has the potential to bring about a fundamental change in the way we relate to the world and to each other. It's as if humanity is at a crossroads: everything is possible, and we need to make a choice. I read this morning something that struck me as true: "We were in the process of losing our humanity, but a virus one thousands of a micron has has just given it back to us." [1]
[1] https://www.causeur.fr/coronavirus-covid-19-guillaume-bigot-...
Re: Traffic and Pollution Plummet as U.S. Cities Shut Down
#68Looks like we've found the solution to global warning. All it took was a government mandate that folks who can and should be working from home do so. Hopefully we all have the common sense to continue this long term, mother earth deserves a break
I think the people working from home are outnumbered by the people who can't work and are quickly going broke.
No one's disputing that.
It makes sense that if people who can work home do so, the environment will be better than if they don't work from home. Also, many people who cannot work from home at the moment are still driving to work (restaurant workers, grocery store workers, other retail). This current situation isn't too far off from a state where just those who can work from home do so, and the rest drive to work. And anecdotally, the air where I live has gone from one of the worst in the nation to delightful.
Re: Traffic and Pollution Plummet as U.S. Cities Shut Down
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
"great case for carbon tax + dividend" Squint a bit and Canada's carbon dividend looks like UBI. I'm fully on board.
>> Squint a bit and Canada's carbon dividend looks like UBI. As an Albertan I'm not super-happy about paying for the country's party over the past 20 years and now being kicked out of the house when we're out of beer.
That's such a great analogy.
FWIW I am (was) seriously considering moving to Wyoming or other net beneficiary of our own federal largess.
Noting your work in asset planning, I'd love to find a counterpoint to VOX's David Roberts coverage of the energy industry, with respect to climate crisis, renewables, governance, financials, etc.
Re: Traffic and Pollution Plummet as U.S. Cities Shut Down
#70Is anyone else wondering if the shutdown for COVID-19 will have a significant impact on carbon emissions? If it does, then it could actually save far more lives than it takes.
While the effects on CO2 may be significant and possibly beneficial, I think we should focus on particulate matter, CO, NO and other pollutants directly poisonous to the human body.